First Wave: Lost Prophesies
by Angel17
Summary: AU What does Nostradumus's prophesies have to do with the Pod Squad? Evidence is found at a hidden chamber that proves the existance of another alien. Max is missing, but with the fourth aliens help will they be able to rescue him?
1. Dreamcatcher

First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies" 

**Chapter One - Dreamcatcher**

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, just borrowing…  
Summary: This is an alternate Universe Roswell, I have tried to follow the show as much as possible without changing my plot. My story diverges from the very first episode, although I will bring in certain aspects of the show that fit with my story line.  
This is the first part in a multi part story. This fic is also a crossover with the TV Series First Wave. Constructive criticism is welcome.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

Lao Tzu

PART ONE: MISSING

Michael's scowl deepened when he saw the two walking towards him, they hadn't seen him yet because they were gazing into each others eyes as if there were no tomorrow, mindless of the flow of students around them.

It had been that way for months now, and it was getting very old very fast. They acted as if nothing else more important was going on around them…it was sickening.

Michael glared in disgust at the oblivious offenders, promising himself that he would never fall in love, and if he by some off chance did find himself caught up in a relationship, he would put her in her place pronto, before it reached this "coochie coo" stage.

"If the wind changes direction your face is gonna stay like that forever you know!"

Michael whipped around to find Isabel standing beside him, an amused expression on her face. His scowl deepened, if that were possible, so intense were his thoughts that he hadn't even heard her come up behind him.

Isabel smiled at the murderous look on his face, which he didn't take kindly because he abruptly turned his back on her to face Max and Liz as they made their way to where he was standing.

"Issy, Michael, whatsup?" questioned Max with barely a glance in their direction. His attention was still firmly on his beloved.

Michael pushed aside his irritation and answered "Maxwell we need to talk."

Barely nodding or removing his gaze from Liz, Max said "Okay, can it wait until after school? We can all meet at the Crashdown."

Michael nodded as he pushed himself away from the lockers and then made his way out of the school.

The three teens watched as he stalked out of the building, carelessly bumping into any unfortunate student who got in his way.

"Wow, that's the first time I've seen him at school all month" announced Liz as she turned away to unlock her locker.

Isabel frowned, she didn't like the fact that Michael had been missing so much school, it gave him more time to get into his usual trouble, never mind that they all needed to be as inconspicuous as possible, and so trouble was something they needed to avoid at all costs.

"What do you think he wanted to talk to us about?" She asked.

Max shook his head, his guess was that Michael wanted to have another meeting about finding out more about their origins.

Michael, unfortunately didn't have as carefree a life on earth as he and Isabel did, it was for this reason he had made it his sole purpose in life to find their home.

It wasn't that he or Isabel weren't interested in finding their home, it was just that they had more to loose if they did, and Max wasn't sure he would be willing to pay the price of leaving behind everything here for some far off place that he could not remember.

Max's thoughts briefly drifted to the dreams he had been having, before quickly dismissing them and returning his attention to Liz.

LATER AT THE CRASHDOWN

Liz grabbed a couple of menus and handed it to an old couple in one of the booths and promised to be back in a few minutes to take their order. Without thinking she automatically glanced up to the door when the bell jingled indicating a new customer, the customer was Max.  
A slow smile crept across his face as he saw her, a matching smile spread across her own face, she shyly smoothed imaginary wrinkles from her uniform and made her way to the booth he was heading for.

In her daze, Liz barely noticed as Michael and Isabel moved impatiently past Max to sit in the booth.

"Hey Max."

"Hey."

They smiled at each other, needing no further words to convey what they were thinking.

Isabel rolled her eyes in annoyance "I may possibly throw up!"

Michael didn't care who did what so long as they could get down to business instead of having staring contests every five minutes. It was like being in kindergarten "whatever!...Listen Maxwell, enough of the star crossed lover crap, we need to talk."

Reluctantly Max tore his gaze away from Liz's large brown eyes to look into Michael's troubled ones.

Sitting down at the booth and pulling Liz in beside him he focused his attention on Michael "'kay, so what did you want to talk about?"

All eyes were on Michael, which caused him extreme discomfort "I've been dreaming a lot lately of the crash, the pictures are all fuzzy and the emotions I keep picking up on are of confusion and fear and lots of people. I can't make any of it out, but then the dream shifts and it's calm and there's this green glow all around. It feels like I'm floating or flying, and there's just this constant feeling of relaxation…I've never felt that way in all my life Maxwell." His gaze locked with Max's before returning to his story "I think this place is in the desert and I think it's our way home, or possibly holds the clues to our way home…I'm not sure, all I know is that I NEED to go there, and every time I have this dream the need gets stronger."

Feeling embarrassed he stopped talking, his eyes shifting everywhere except into the faces of his friends, expecting laughter, or a sarcastic remark and getting only silence.

He lifted his gaze and caught the intense look Max was giving him, shifting in his seat he then turned to Isabel who was looking at him uncertainly.

"I don't understand Michael, you called an emergency meeting because of a dream you've been having?" She shook her head in irritation, was she the only normal one among them?

Michael's anger rose "It's not just a dream, it's important, I can feel it."

Isabel changed her tone from one of irritation to one of sympathy "come on Michael, you're searching for clues of our past where there are none."

"I knew you wouldn't understand, none of you do. You're all so caught up in your perfect little existence that you won't face up to the fact that we don't belong here. We're different, and we'll never be one of them. They'll hate us, fear us, experiment on us, but they'll never accept us. Wake-up Isabel, you're not a normal teenager, you're a who-knows-how-old-alien, who can manipulate the molecular structure of objects and enter people's dreams…" he hissed, carefully keeping his voice low enough to not attract any unwanted attention.

Isabel shook her head nervously "this is silly.. Max…" she began, looking for her brother's support.

"No." Came his reply, his eyes never leaving Michaels form.

Isabel felt her confusion climbing as she watched the scene unfolding before her, but before she could voice her objections Max continued.

"This dream Michael's been having is similar to the one I've been having the last couple of nights.

"What?" Shouted Isabel

"And you're ONLY just telling us NOW!" Growled Michael.

Max squeezed Liz's hand, finding comfort from her presence "I didn't think it was important until now" he explained, knowing full well he should have said something earlier, and if his sister or Michael found out that Liz already knew about his dreams…well let's just say they would be livid.

Michael fumed, pointing his finger accusingly at his fellow aliens "that's what's wrong with the both of you, you never think any of this stuff is important! When will you realize that there is nothing else more important than this?"

Michael stood up, uncaring of any scene he might be causing and glared and his friends. Coldly his whispered "I will be leaving tomorrow to find this place, you can join me or not…"

He walked out the door, not bothering to wait for a reply.

Silence fell on the table, so when Liz's exclamation of "My customers!" was shouted, the remaining aliens felt themselves jolting in surprise.

Liz shot up from the table to serve the long awaiting customers of their dinner, Max watched her as she worked, his mind a whirl of thoughts and the sight of her was the only thing keeping him grounded and sane.

"This is so stupid, what is he gonna do, drive around until he finds this mysterious place? He doesn't even have a car" said Isabel before realizing her brother had not heard a word she'd said. "Max…Max! Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" she almost shouted in frustration.

"Hmm"

Isabel threw her hands up in anger "what am I even doing here? Obviously my opinion doesn't even count."

Isabel got up and stormed out the door.

Max lost track of his thoughts at his sister's outburst.

"Isabel!"

He picked up his keys, sending Liz an apologetic look before following Isabel out the door. This was definitely turning out to be the day of drama queens he thought wryly to himself as he prepared to offer Isabel an apology as well as a promise to do her chores if it would save him from what they all knew as her "hell on earth" treatment.

NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL

Max wasn't so sure it was a good idea to get his sister talking to him again, because now he was suffering for it.

He'd spent the last fifteen minutes giving her a word by word of his conversation with Michael the previous evening and yet she still demanded more.

Nazi

Shaking away his nasty thoughts, Max sighed as he was asked another pointless question by his sometimes-overbearing older sister.

"When I called Michael last night he said he'd be here."

"Well I don't see him, you don't think he went off by himself to try and find the place do you?" She asked for the third time.

"There's no telling what he'd do, you know how Michael gets when he gets something in his head" answered Max.

Isabel took a sip of her coke and looked around the quad again to see if Michael was there.

"Still no sign of him."

Liz stepped out of the school building and into the quad, her gaze flickering over the groups of students, searching for one student in particular. In her distraction she didn't notice the girl making her way towards her.

"Hey Liz, still hanging out with the weirdo's and delinquents of Roswell?" snarked Wendy.

She was referring to Max, Isabel and Michael of course. Liz ignored her and continued to make her way over to the table that she had spotted Max and Isabel sitting at.

It still hurt her to listen to Wendy's quips, once upon a time they'd been best friends, until that fateful day that Max had saved her when she had been shot.

That had been the day her whole world had changed, she'd found out that aliens did in fact exist and had made new friends, in turn loosing her old ones because she could no longer confide in them.  
At first Isabel and Michael had snubbed her, which had been painful because she was still smarting from the loss of her old friends. But eventually they began to treat her as one of them, she now realized that her friends now were truer than her friends previously had ever been, but the loss still hurt.

Liz thought back to the day when she and Wendy had had that awful fight that led to their now ex-friends status.

begin flashback 

"What's the matter with you Liz? Have you gone completely nuts?" Demanded Wendy, her shoulder length auburn hair flying around her head as she bobbed it in anger. "How could you break up with Kyle, for Max Evans of all people?"

Wendy had an obsession with popularity, and believed that Kyle Valenti, football and wrestling star of the school was their ticket to the top. She refused to believe that Liz was far from interested in being popular and had very little in common with her summer boyfriend.

Or perhaps she did believe, but didn't care. Either way Liz's break-up with the popular jock and her newfound relationship with Max was causing serious damage to her climb up the popular ladder, in fact they were now heading on a one way ticket to outcastsville.

Sure, Max was cute, but cuteness didn't factor into popularity.

"Wendy, you don't understand, Max is different, we have a connection, something I never had with Kyle, or any other guy for that matter."

A dreamy look came upon her face as she considered all the wonderful qualities that made Max so unique.

Wendy almost erupted in flames "you've got that much right! The man is completely abnormal, he doesn't have any friends apart from his sister and that delinquent. He's always hiding in the shadows, totally apart from the world around him. I know you've had this unexplainable crush on him since like third grade, but how can you even compare him to Kyle, c'mon Liz, get some sense into yourself."

Liz gritted her teeth in anger. She'd never believed that her best friend could be so cold hearted and vindictive. "Enough!" She shouted "as my best friend you should be able to see how happy he makes me and how unhappy I was being Kyle's trophy girlfriend. You should know me better than anyone else…know how much I detest the world that Kyle belongs to. You should be happy for me, not angry at me because I won't date who you want me to date. I don't think you were ever my friend, because you don't know me at all."

"Some friend you are, you won't even tell me the truth about that day at the Crashdown, and now you spend all your time with that group of weirdo's, Martyr Max, Ice queen Isabel, who thinks she is so above the rest of us, how special can she be if her only friend is her brother, unless you count misfit Michael, now that guy has absolutely no social skills, he's a borderline suicidal case from the wrong side of the tracks." She paused, her green eyes flashing in anger "You're right about one thing…I don't think we were ever friends…"

It was at that point Liz had realized that her friendship with Wendy was over.

end flashback

Liz came back into the present to find herself standing next to Isabel and Max's table, with Isabel looking at her quizzically.

"What?" She wondered if she'd said something out-loud, hence the quizzical expressions on Max and Isabel's face.

Isabel arched an eyebrow and remained silent.

Max gave his sister an annoyed look before turning back to Liz and explaining "you've been standing there for about five minutes totally oblivious to everything else."

He said nothing else, but his eyes asked her if she was okay.

Liz blushed, she hadn't realized her trip back in time had been so obvious to everyone else. She quickly sat down next to Max and tried to change the subject, to her relief she was successful at it.

"So where's Michael? I thought he was supposed to meet us here?"

"Right here, didn't know you guys were missing me so much" came the usual sarcastic reply.  
He flopped down onto the seat next to Isabel, who was about to tell him off when Max interrupted.

"I think we should all try and find that place from our dreams today, Liz has already managed to get off work, so it would be a perfect time."

Michaels normally expressionless face showed surprise, he'd come here expecting for them to try and convince him it was pointless. The last thing he'd expected was for them to be eager to leave on a road trip in search of the mysterious place from his dream.

"There goes the bell, we'll meet you in the parking lot after school, in the meantime those of us who actually attend classes, have to get back inside" said Isabel, making a point of mentioning his lack of attendance.

Michael shrugged and stood up, he didn't see how American History would be of any use on his home planet, but refrained from saying so, knowing full well what Isabel's reaction to that statement would be.

It was then that Wendy, and her newest friend, Pam walked by, identical looks of vindictiveness on their faces.

"Oh look, it's the annual meeting of the losers, that's l-o-o-s-e-r-s" said Pam, not realizing that her childish behaviour was making her look exactly like a child.

Isabel snickered, but said nothing of Pam's spelling abilities. Instead she gave them her patented cold shoulder.

Although it didn't sound dangerous, it had scared the daylights out of many a person.

Both Wendy and Pam could feel their confidence waver.

Michael watched the scene with a sense of irritation. He had no patience for the giggling, childish, stupidity of most high school girls. Half of their conversations were pointless and made no sense, and their need to be mean spirited and vindictive for no other reason than to be able to gossip about it later was beyond his understanding.

Girls like Wendy and Pam were a complete waste of time and oxygen.

"Go away…" he growled, his frown an indication of his impatience.

One look at his face, and the girls didn't spend a second contemplating it, they shot off, obviously looking for safety in numbers.

Liz burst out laughing, shortly followed by Max and Isabel, Michael just gave his usual smirk and walked off, although as soon as his back was to them a full out grin spread across his face, he felt really good, not just about the road trip, but because in a small way he'd made it up to Liz for the hard time he'd given her when she'd first started hanging around with Max.

Doesn't mean I approve of it he thought to himself, he still firmly believed Max shouldn't have shared their secret but he admitted to himself he couldn't have chosen a better person to fall in love with

Isabel began walking back into the school "I guess Michaels bad boy persona comes in handy sometimes huh?"

Liz started giggling again "can you believe the look on Pam's face? She was positively petrified!"

"It was priceless" agreed Isabel.

Both girls erupted into giggles again.

Max smiled, it was good to see his two favorite girls getting along, and it was also nice to see Isabel so happy. Isabel had never really had a close friend to do all the things girls do together with, and although she'd tried to hide it, she'd been really lonely. Liz was like this bright light that had come into all of their lives and brightened it just by her very presence. He couldn't believe how lucky he was, that Liz Parker actually loved him, boring dull Max Evans, and her, stunning, clever, wonderful, amazing Liz was his girlfriend.

Hey, you are anything but boring Startled, Max looked at Liz, he kept forgetting that she could sometimes hear his thoughts, it was a development from the connection he'd made when he's saved her that day at the Crashdown.

Up until that day he had only been able to communicate telepathically with Michael and Isabel, so it was taking some getting used to.

He sometimes found it strange that with Isabel and Michael he always had to consciously project his thought for them to hear, whereas with Liz, his thoughts were often projected without any conscious effort.

Stranger still, was the fact that Liz was unable to communicate telepathically with his fellow aliens, it appeared that whatever changes she'd undergone did not include the full blown telepathic ability, which led him to believe that her silent communication power was more of a heightened connection between him and her, due to the connection he'd made when he'd healed her, rather that an actual psychic power development.

Whatever the changes were, it was still very disconcerting, as they had no way to know if there would be any further changes to come.

LATER THE SAME DAY

After school, the four met at the Evans jeep, each feeling some form of excitement and nervousness.

Isabel however only felt trepidation and fear. She still felt unsure about the dreams, especially because she hadn't had them. She wondered if it was a 'boy' thing before dismissing the theory as ludicrous. Isabel also worried that she might be loosing touch with her powers, as she was the one that was normally stronger in the dream area, whilst Max was stronger at the healing and Michael…was still developing his powers. For the moment his powers were highly erratic, which he seemed to have trouble controlling.

The teens climbed into the vehicle silently, Michael climbed in the back next to Isabel, leaving the passenger seat open for Liz, another small apology in his own way. She accepted it silently, knowing that any verbal acknowledgment would make the boy uncomfortable.

"So, Where do we start?" Questioned Liz as she climbed in to her seat.

"In the desert" came the simultaneous reply from Michael and Max

Isabel arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow and looked at Liz questionably, Liz shrugged before turning to face the front again.

The group fell into silence again as Max pulled the jeep out of the school grounds and headed out of town and into the desert, with no destination on hand he allowed instinct to lead him.

After a while on the road Isabel asked "Uh, Liz, are you still looking for someone to replace Wendy at the Crash?" Her voice was neutral, not giving anything away as she asked the seemingly innocent question.

"Yeah, I've had to work overtime 'cause we're so short staffed."

Max was not fooled, he knew his sister was hinting at the job and wondered why. It was not the typical Isabel Evans workplace. He wondered if Isabel's question had a double meaning, was Isabel looking to replace Wendy in more ways than just as a waitress?

"Do you think I could apply?" Asked Isabel.

Michael snorted, and was poked in the ribs by Isabel for it.

"What's that supposed to mean? Don't you think I could handle it?" Demanded the offended Isabel.

"No offence Is, but I can't picture you in an alien uniform, much less serving anybody" cut in Max before an argument could develop, he was well aware of Michael's tactlessness and wasn't in the mood for a grumpy sister.

"Well I guess you just don't know me that well, and anyway, I could always do with the extra cash" sniffed Isabel, holding her head up high.

Liz was quick to break up the tension "I think it's a good idea, why don't you come around tomorrow and I can show you the ropes, it'll be fun."

Michael ignored the conversation and continued to stare out into the vast planes of the desert. The terrain was monotonous and he could feel himself zoning out when suddenly something caught his attention. He squinted, in the distance he could make out a rock outcropping "Over there" he shouted, pointing over Max's shoulder causing Isabel to be unceremoniously shoved to the side. He ignored her outcry as he continued to shout; "stop Max...that's the place there!"

"Michael are you sure? It looks just like a bunch of rocks to me" even as Isabel asked the question she already knew the answer. It was like the very air hummed around her. Her senses intensified whilst her heartbeat increased. Her very soul was crying out in recognition so loud that she could not ignore it.

Michael gave her a look, his face telling her that he felt it too.

There was no going back.

The group fell into silence as they climbed out the jeep, Michael lead the way up the rocks, climbing slowly, carefully making his way lest he fall because it was a treacherous journey at best.  
He stopped when they reached the top, Max passed him and unhesitatingly made his way to a wall of rock, without pausing he waved his hand over it, both Isabel and Liz gasped when they saw a glowing handprint materialise on the rock face.

Max placed his hand in it and to the group's amazement the wall of rock rolled away to form an opening to a cave.


	2. ET Phone Home

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"**

Chapter two - ET Phone Home 

Disclaimer: See Chapter one

"It's a dangerous business going out your front door."

- Tolkein (Lord of the Rings)

Before them loomed the opening into the cave…a cave that had been opened by a previously invisible handprint on the rock wall.

And just how the hell had Max known it was there?

"How did you..." began Liz, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"I just did, I can't explain it." He shrugged.

Michael started to make his way into the cave when Isabel stopped him "Michael, you don't know what's in there, it could be dangerous" she warned.

"We've come this far, I'm not about to leave just because of some irrational fear you have Isabel" he shrugged off her hand and walked into the opening, missing the hurt look on Isabel's face.

Liz gave her a sympathetic look and grabbed her hand "c'mon, lets go see what all the hub-bub is about."  
She led Isabel in, followed by a smiling Max she never ceases to amaze me he thought to himself.

Faced with the uncertainly of what was in the cave, she was fearlessly leading Isabel in, offering support and friendship.

Max was reminded that Liz could hear his thoughts when she responded knock it off Evans, you're making me blush

He was about to respond when the boulder rolling back in place startled him, shutting out the daylight.

Before anyone could get scared the walls of the cave seemed to come alive, throwing an eerie green glow over everything, effectively lighting the cave up. They found Michael crouched near pod type things running a hand over one. Isabel recognized them straight away.

"Oh My God! Max that's what we came out of when we were six" she exclaimed, still rooted to her spot behind Michael.

Michael turned around, a pained expression on his face "there are four pods...do you know what this means?" He hesitated before continuing "there's a fourth one of us.

Isabel clamped a trembling hand over her mouth in shock, she couldn't quite grasp that there was another one of them out there, possibly alone and afraid, who knows, maybe the fourth alien had been kidnapped by the government or by some sort of alien hunter, of which she knew there were many crazies running around looking for aliens and other conspiracies.

All these thoughts were screaming across her mind, further adding to her fear.

All three aliens stiffened when a vision started.

begin flashback

Max and Isabel holding hands walking out the cave, followed by Michael.

flash

Three pods lying open, a fourth pod is still occupied by a blond haired girl, her hair floating around her serene face, she was in some sort of stasis.

flash

A young Michael turns around, wanting to go back for the girl, but they can't, there is danger and they must go...now!

end flashback

A terrified Liz ran into Max's arms when they came round "thank God, I thought something had happened to you guy's when you didn't respond, I...I was so scared Max."

Max placed a hand on her head and soothingly stroked it, if truth be told the flash had scared him too, Isabel was visibly shaken, Michael who looked expressionless was also troubled he could tell.

"We just left her, for whatever was out there that we were all scared of. She...she was my sister, I don't know how I know, I just do...and we left her."  
Isabel choked over her last words, crying silently she stood there sending equally guilty and accusing looks to Max and Michael.

Michael looked away, he couldn't stand the accusations, he was already fighting his own guilt. Max watched as the guilt an accusations ran across their faces, still holding Liz, however his attention was taken away when he saw something glow briefly behind one of the pods in the distant corner. He disentangled himself from Liz and made his way over to what looked like a book.

"Max, what is it?" asked Isabel.

Everyone followed Max who was now reaching for the object, it was a book, made out of some unrecognisable metal, dull silver in color with strange symbols decorating the cover. Max tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

As if in a trance, Isabel took it from him, running her hands over the cover, in a monotonous voice she said; "The power of four must be united in stead, only then can the destinies be read."

Isabel's eyes flickered as she came out of her trance-like-state.

Michael gave her a confused look "Huh?"

Liz's nose wrinkled in thought before answering "you need the fourth Alien before you can open the book."

"Is, how did you know that?" asked Max.

"I didn't…it was like the book took control. I know it sounds weird, but that's what it felt like." She answered.

The group had formed a circle around the book when Max initially picked it up. Now they remained in that state as they gazed upon each other. Silence reigned.

LATER AT MICHAELS APARTMENT

Isabel's face scrunched up in disgust at the site of Michael shoving a slice of pizza into his mouth. "Geez Michael, you'd swear you hadn't eaten in months, and by the looks of this place, you certainly haven't cleaned in years."

Michael snorted as he continued to eat his umpteenth slice of pizza.

Max sighed from his place on the sofa "we've been here an hour and we still haven't come up with any idea's."

Michael swallowed his mouthful of food "do you think she's okay? You know, happy and stuff?"

The others looked at Michael in shock.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with 'I don't give a damn about anyone' Michael?" Asked Isabel sarcastically, obviously annoyed with Michael for some or other transgression.

"I'm serious Is, she's one of us and she's all alone out there, what if it had been one of us?"

Silence settled on the group again.

"What we need to do is get a hold of any records about a six-year-old girl found in the area around that time" suggested Max.

"Okay, but how?" Questioned the ever practical Liz.

"We break into the Sheriffs Station, maybe even all the orphanages in the area and see what records they have for back then" replied Michael, giving himself a mental pat on the back for his ingenious idea.

Isabel shook her head at him "Is that your only solution to everything? Why can't we ever do things the legal way, what happens if we get caught Einstein?"

Michael glared at Isabel "fine, you come up with a better idea then. Maybe we could whine the Sheriff to death after which we'll have all the time in the world to sift through all his records."

"Break it up you two, we're in this together remember" sighed Max in his usual position as referee.

"Why don't we try old News Paper reports for that time period, if it doesn't work out we can discuss what to do then" suggested Liz.

The three aliens smiled, pleased with the idea and the possibility of finding their lost fellow alien.

SATURDAY AT THE CRASHDOWN

"Thanks, I think I've got it"

Liz smiled "you'll be a natural, and I can even see that you're attracting us more customers than usual" teased Liz.

Blushing, Isabel left to continue her duties as a waitress at the Crashdown Cafe. Liz looked up from cleaning the counter when the bell above the door jingled to see Kyle and some of his jock friends enter.

She sighed, threw down the rag and grabbed some menus; nervously she made her way over to their booth.

"Well if it isn't Evans's little whore Elizabeth Parker" remarked one of the jocks, Jamie.

Liz's face flushed with fury and she pursed her lips to prevent herself from saying anything "did you want something or not?"

Jamie smirked "yeah how about we get together later, and you show me what all this fuss about you is."

The table of jocks erupted into laughter, the only one who remained quiet was Kyle, instead, his gaze remained focused on Liz as if he was unaware of his friends rude remarks.

Isabel strolled over to the group "oh I'm sorry; didn't you see the sign on the door? We don't serve animals." This was said so sweetly, her smile never leaving her face.

"Well if it isn't the Ice Queen, why don't you come over to my place tonight so I can thaw you out?" This came from one of the other guys, Steve.

The table erupted into more laughter, back slapping and high fives, again Kyle remained oblivious to the remarks.

Liz knew that Kyle was the typical jock, forever congratulating themselves on their wonderfulness, but she also knew that he was not like his friends. No matter what their history was, he would never join in on the rude remarks.

"Enough guys." He admonished his friends.

This served to rile them up more.

"What is it with this girl? If she's that good in the sack, maybe I should get in on this action!"

"No slut is worth this much trouble!"

"GET OUT!"

Everyone looked up to see Max Evans, fury written all over his face standing there, a few feet behind him stood Michael Guerin arms crossed and a you do not want to mess with me look on his face.

Liz tensed, the last thing she wanted was the guy's getting in a fight, when the fight would be partly her fault. Also, she knew Kyle, and there was nothing he hated more than Max.

"Or what Evans?" Demanded Kyle, earning a grin from his friends who had believed him to be beyond help when it came to Liz Parker.

Max leaned in close, his face inches from Kyle's "that, is something you don't want to find out."

His words were icy cold yet deadly serious, clearly the jocks began to get nervous as the smiles faded from their faces, the fact that usually calm and quiet Max was this furious was one indication that they did not want to find out what he was capable of, that and the fact they'd heard rumors about Michael doing hard time for murder, which was ludicrous really, but Michael was definitely a loose cannon, and they did not want to find out first hand if the rumors were true or not.

The jocks eased out of their chairs, making themselves quickly scarce.

Liz put her arms around Max and kissed him passionately "my hero!" She murmured into his mouth.

"Sorry to interrupt the love fest, but what did you guys find out?" Interrupted Isabel.

"Quite a bit. We'll all talk at Michaels place after your shifts."

Michael left to get ready for his shift as Max sat down in the newly vacated booth.

A while later the two girls were behind the counter discussing all the possible discoveries that the boys could have uncovered that they were now keeping secret.

"Pickup..hey pickup" shouted Michael.

Isabel rolled her eyes in annoyance before reaching for the plate of food that was being thrust in her direction. "You don't have to shout, grumpy!"

Michael scowled and continued to fry burgers.

Liz turned and looked in Max's direction, she caught him staring at her and blushed, his looks could get so intense sometimes that Liz often felt herself pulled into some other reality that was Max. Liz snapped back to reality when a hand was waved in front of her face.

"Helloooo, Liz, here's table sevens order."

Liz felt herself start blushing again, and quickly grabbed the plates for table seven.

THAT EVENING

Two months previously Michael had become emancipated after being physically abused by his foster father. He now had his own apartment, which was used for many of their secretive meetings, including the meeting being held there presently.

"We went to the town library and looked for back Issues of the Roswell Times."

The four friends were sitting in Michael's living room, the girls were listening intently to what Max was saying, Michael who was ignoring them was sprawled on a sofa glaring at the ceiling.

"So did you find anything?" Prompted Liz

"Yeah, there were a couple of articles for that year, the first one was about Isabel and I and then later there was another one about our adoption. The second one was about Michael; he was found a couple of hours after us I think." Max picked up some photocopies off the coffee table.

"Here's where it gets weird. A little girl was found, probably around the age of five or six, she was covered in a slight gooey substance and was incapable of speech."

Isabel felt herself shiver at the eeriness of it all, the story Max was telling her was almost an exact replica of her own story.

"Immediately she was placed in foster care with a couple by the name of Aaron and Sylvia Warton. Later, she was removed from their custody when another couple showed interest in adopting her."

"So that's good right? If that's all in the paper then you must have their names, in which case it should be no problem tracking them down!" Exclaimed Liz.

Max shook his head and continued "Actually it does mention their name, but only because they disappeared a few months later. The Whitman family were living on a ranch just outside of Roswell and had given all the ranchers the weekend off, strange as it was nobody thought anything of it until they returned the following Monday. The house had been completely burned to a crisp. No sign of anyone or anything! Although, later, it was proven that no one had died in the fire, yet there was still no sign of the family."

"So they're probably still alive, maybe they found out about her alien status and decided to leave Roswell so that no one else would find out?

But what I don't get it is how come nobody noticed that four kids were found in the desert outside Roswell during the same period?" Asked Liz.

"Well technically only Is and I were found in the desert, When Michael was found he was already close to Roswell, and apparently this girl was found months later…" he paused, unable or unwilling to continue.

Isabel stared at her brother, aware that he was trying to keep something from her. "Where Max? Where was she found?"

Michael spoke up for the first time then "outside your house."

The girls were shocked.

"Why didn't mom or dad ever say anything?" Questioned Isabel, barely holding back tears.

"It was ten years ago, we were kids, and they had no idea the importance of it" explained Max.

"She knew Max, she knew where and who we were and she found us, only to be taken away" Isabel sobbed, she could feel her heart breaking for the sister she had never met and yet the sister she already loved with all of her heart, Liz put a comforting arm around Isabel.

Michael jumped up and stormed to the bathroom, it was obvious this was upsetting him greatly, the only person who looked unaffected by all this was Max, but Liz knew he was just as upset, maybe even more because for some reason he felt responsible for all of them, Liz could tell he was just trying to be strong for his friend and sister.

The friends sat quietly, contemplating all that had been discovered over the course of the past week. It was a lot to digest and they were all feeling some form of fatigue.

Max stood up "It's getting late, maybe I should take you home?"

Isabel shook her head "take Liz, I want to stay here and make sure Michael is okay."

Nodding, Max reached for his girlfriends hand "I'll see you in a short while."

Isabel nodded, desperately trying to fight back more tears, reaching over, Liz squeezed her hand, offering comfort, for which Isabel was more grateful than she could put into words, instead she just smiled her thanks.

Max picked up his keys and guided Liz out the apartment.

In the jeep Max started the engine and pulled out of his parking space, his face masking all the emotions that Liz knew he was feeling.

"Are you going to confront your parents about the girl?"

"No, they'd just become suspicious if we did, I think it's best if they don't know anything about it."

"So what now?"

"I guess we'll just have to discuss our options, but if Michael has anything to do with it we'll probably go along with his plan."

Liz frowned, "do you think that's a good idea? It could be dangerous."

"I agree, but we might not have a choice. If the Whitman family really did make a run for it then our only clue will be at the Sheriff's Station."

Max stopped the jeep outside the Crashdown and turned to Liz, enfolding her in his arms, his lips touched hers sending sparks of electricity down his spine and causing his body to tremble in excitement.

His fingers ran through her hair, whilst at the same time deepening the kiss, Liz moaned in delight and shifted her body to get closer to Max. When Max pulled reluctantly away from her Liz felt an irrational fear at being separated from him and pulled him back towards her.

"Max don't go, stay with me please" whispered Liz huskily.

Max sighed in frustration, weighing his responsibility to his sister and his need for his girlfriend.

As always, Max chose to be responsible, even if it meant forgoing his own desperate need to be with Liz at this time.

"As much as I'd like to, I have Michael and Isabel waiting for me."

Max stopped talking when he saw the fear in her eyes "what? What's wrong sweetness?" He reached over to cup her face gently, keeping her fearful gaze locked on him instead of her lap.

"I'm not sure" she trembled "I just feel like if I let you go I won't see you again."

Max pulled Liz onto his lap and held her tightly to his chest "It's just your emotions playing with you after everything we've discovered tonight. You're associating the loss of my sister with loosing me, but I promise you this, I'll never leave you…ever. I love you too much."

Liz smiled into his chest, pleased by his words of love, yet unable to dispel her fears. She did not believe her fear of loosing him had anything to do with what happened to the fourth alien.

Maybe I'm just over tired she thought to herself.

Lifting her head she gazed into his concerned gaze.

As their eyes locked, so did their souls and Liz knew that if she ever lost him it would be like loosing a part of herself, she would be incomplete without him because he was the other half of her soul.

"I love you too."

Michael paced his apartment, angry with Max for taking so long. The night had been full of revelations, and right now his sister needed him more than his girlfriend did…yet where was he?

Before Liz had appeared on the scene Maxwell had always put the needs of his sister and his friend first. An admirable quality that Michael respected and wished he had, but since then, Max had been slipping away from them, little by little each day.

He was scared that one day Max would be lost to them completely, and with Max gone, Isabel would soon follow, leaving him alone without the only family he had ever known.

He would never admit it out loud, but he loved them more than anything in the world and sometimes he hated Liz for coming between them and other times he loved her for making Max happier than he'd ever been.

Right now though, he hated her.

They needed Max, he was their rock and they were standing in the middle of a twister of emotions and fears and he was not there to ground them.

Walking over to the sofa he watched as Isabel slept fitfully, dry tear tracks stained her face an indication of the turmoil she was suffering.

He watched in concern as she moaned, clutching the cushion to her chest.

His anger rose to boiling point as he renewed his pacing, glancing at the wall clock from time to time as the minutes ticked by.

"NO!"

Michael's heart skipped a beat at the sound of heart wrenchingly despair.

"Max!"

Immediately he ran towards to the sofa to wake Isabel up from her nightmare, before he could reach her however, she bolted upright and screamed.

An ear piercing scream of absolute terror.

For a second he couldn't move, frozen by her screams.

Her eyes sought the room, looking for him, then finding him "Michael, they have Max!"

It was said so quietly, so matter of factly that at first he thought she was sleep talking, still suffering from a nightmare.

His heart told him otherwise. Isabel was awake, and Max was gone.

Breaking out of his frozen state he rushed to her side and gripped her trembling arms. "Who Is? Who has Max?"

Isabel's eyes rolled to the back of her head in a faint. In desperation Michael gripped her more firmly and shook her hard until her teeth rattled and her gaze refocused on him.

"These men…I don't know!" Taking a deep breath she continued "the FBI, they have Max, and...oh God they're hurting him Michael."

Isabel covered her face as she sobbed.

Michael let go of her arms, standing up and ran to the phone and punched in Liz's number, waiting impatiently for her to answer.

"Hel…"

"Is Max there?" He interrupted, almost shouting out the question.

"Michael?"

"Liz, is Max with you?"

"No, he left hours ago…Michael what's going on?"

Michael felt his heart plummet to his knees as he heard the fear and confusion in Liz's voice.

Max had left hours ago.

"Get dressed, I'll be there in ten minutes."

He hung up the phone.

Picking up his motorcycle keys he pulled the sobbing Isabel off of the sofa and pushed her out the door "come on, we need to get your parents car."

It took Michael five minutes at break neck speed to reach the Evans home, by that time Isabel had regained her composure.

Slamming on breaks and pulling the motorcycle to a stop next to the curb, they both climbed off and headed for the family car.

Neither of them bothered looking for keys, it would take too long and might wake her parents. Instead, using their powers they unlocked the door and started the ignition.

Switching on headlights and slamming into gear, Michael pulled out of the driveway and drove towards the Crashdown.

This was one time he was grateful for the connection that Max and Liz shared, because that connection would be what they used to track down their missing friend.

Or at least he hoped it would.

When they reached the Crashdown, Liz was standing beside the road, her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to keep control of her tears.

Bringing the car to a halt beside her, he waited as she climbed in before turning around and facing her.

"Max is missing, I need you to try and connect with him."

Barely holding herself together, Liz nodded.

Michael put the car into gear and pulled off "I'm going to try heading towards my place, maybe we can pick up a trail…or psychic spoor or something from there."

He drove slowly, taking the route Max would most likely have taken when he left Liz two hours previously.

No one spoke.

Liz closed her eyes and concentrated on forming a connection with her beloved, something she'd been trying to do since Michael had phoned her fifteen minutes before.

Nothing.

They were about a mile from Michael's apartment when Liz saw something shine briefly from the headlights of the car.

"Stop!"

Michael didn't hesitate, he slammed on breaks, causing the wheels to lock and the car to screech to a sliding halt.

All three doors opened immediately as they piled out of the car and followed Liz's desperate race.

There the jeep lay on it side, it appeared it had been forced into the alley and had overturned.

Liz reached it first "Max!"

Climbing in through the smashed windscreen she called out Max's name, hoping for a reply so that she could follow the sound of his voice as there was no light to see by.

Then two glows appeared, illuminating the interior of the smashed vehicle.

Instinctively Liz knew the light came from her two alien friends, and was immensely grateful for their presence as she searched the jeep frantically "Max!"

"He's not here."

It was Michael, his voice emotionless as he voiced what they all knew.

Max was gone.

_My lover's gone, _

_his boots no longer by my door, _

_he left at dawn, _

_and as I slept I felt him go _

_returns no more, _

_I will not watch the ocean, _

_my lover's gone, _

_no earthly ships will ever bring him home again, _

_bring him home again. _

_My lover's gone, _

_I know that kiss will be my last, _

_no more his song, _

_the tune upon his lips has passed. _

_I sing alone, _

_while I watch the ocean, _

_my lover's gone, _

_no earthly ships will ever bring him home again, _

_bring him home again._


	3. Tae Kwon Who

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Three – Tae-Kwon-Who?  
**

Three years later, the remaining friends continue their search for Max and the fourth alien

Disclaimer: See Chapter one

" We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."  
- Winston Churchill

Maria brushed her curly blond hair into a tight ponytail and reached on to the bed for her gym bag; she was already late for her Tae Kwon Do class.

"Alex, I'm going now."

"'Kay, I'll see you later Ria" came the reply from the living room. Her brother was no doubt on the computer and would barely notice her absence over the next couple of hours.

She picked up her keys and rushed out the door, her trainer Mr. Han Sang Wu was going to be angry, he was forever lecturing her on discipline.

Before she could get very far though she ran into what felt like a stonewall and landed on her butt.

"Hey watch it!" She admonished the perpetrator before climbing back on her feet and rubbing her aching bottom.

"I wasn't the one barrelling down here like a bat out of hell" came the sarcastic reply.

Maria glared angrily at the 'stonewall' before continuing her angry tirade "look, spiky, get out of my way, I have better things to do with my time than to swap insults with you."

She tried to push past him but he continued to block her way.

"I'm waiting!"

Maria gritted her teeth in annoyance "for what, a personality? 'Cos that may be a long wait!"

He crossed his arms across his chest "for an apology."

Maria spluttered, she couldn't believe the audacity of this jerk. Who did he think he was…Royalty? "Well in that case you'll be waiting even longer than you would have for that personality of yours."

She shoved her way passed him, this time sending him flying on to his butt. Argh! That man is so exasperating she thought as she rushed out of her apartment building, that was the third time she'd had to endure his annoying presence in as many days.

She briefly wondered as she hailed a taxi if she should consider moving out of the city, it seemed to be attracting a lot of weirdo's, including 'Spikey the Stonewall" who stalked the hallways of the apartment complex like a…freaky…freaking…thing, with a chip on it's shoulder.

Maria groaned, her insults were seriously lacking, which she found was a common occurrence whenever she came across Spikey. The guy just had this way of making her so angry that she had trouble thinking of anything apart from a million and one ways to kill his sorry ass.

Isabel looked up from her book as Michael barged through the door, a look of fury in place of his usual scowl and laughed.

"What's so funny?" he demanded as he threw himself next to her on the sofa.

"Let me guess, you had another episode with the mystery woman?" She teased, knowing full well how angry he got whenever the subject was brought up.

"She's just so annoying... and rude" he grumbled like a sulking child, causing more laughter to erupt from Isabel.

Liz walked into the small living room then, and taking one look at Michaels face guessed "the mystery woman again?"

"Nice to know you two find my life so amusing."

Liz grinned, enjoying the brief moment of light heartedness that she rarely felt anymore. "Speaking of life, lets get back to our non-existent one, what did you get from the Conspiracy Theory book Izzy?"

"Personally I still think this is a bunch of hogwash…" remarked Isabel.

Liz pulled the desk chair across from the sofa and sat down "probably, but a lot of people believe that most of the theories are based on some sort of fact."

"Like all the crazy conspiracy theorists waiting for ET to cure them of cancer?" asked Michael sarcastically.

"Yeah, and also some well respected scientists" corrected Liz.

"Liz may be right on this one because from everything I've read, there's this one place that stands out the most, It's called the Eagle Rock Military Base."

Michael sat up showing the first sign of interest in days "what about it?"

"The first interesting fact is that it's close to Roswell, probably about an hour or two out of town and deep into the desert, which explains why we've never seen it. Also, although 'officially' it's a training base, 'unofficially' this is where they study alien related cases, and basically anything UFO related."

"And what better specimen to study than a real life alien?" remarked Michael bitterly.

Liz felt tears prick the back of her eyelids, she knew that they had found out about Max because of the shooting that day at the Crashdown. She would never forgive herself.

Forcing her voice to sound optimistic and cheery she suggested "well it sounds like a good possibility, lets find out more about it."

"Okay, now onto the Whitman family...Michael, anything?" Questioned Liz.

When Max had first been kidnapped, Liz had suffered a near mental breakdown and in desperation had both agreed and assisted Michael with breaking into the Sheriff's Station. They had searched for the investigation reports of both Max's disappearance and the Whitman family's desperate flee from Roswell.

Since then Michael had taken over the investigation of the Whitmans, and all clues had led them to New York City where they believed the Whitman siblings now lived after a tragic accident had killed their parents.

"Nothing so far, all we know is that she moved here in the nineties and changed her name after that stalker episode."

"So no new leads on her new name? Damn, for all we know, she doesn't even live here anymore."

"What about her brother? I mean we know her adoptive parents died in that car crash, but her brother is still alive isn't he?" asked Isabel.

"I'm working on it, from what we've uncovered about them before they changed their names was that he was a Computer Science student at the University of Philadelphia, so maybe he's continuing the same studies at NYU."

"That's not a bad place to start" agreed Isabel.

"Anyway I did manage to find a picture of him." Liz passed the photocopied picture around. "Sorry, that's the best I could do, It's an old yearbook picture."

Isabel took the picture and studied it. The quality was definitely terrible and she doubted if they'd ever recognize him on the street based on it. "If it's an old yearbook picture how come you couldn't get one of her?" she asked Liz, feeling a flutter of excitement stirring in her stomach at the thought of finally seeing her sister, even if it was on a blurry photocopy from a yearbook.

"Apparently she refused permission, I think it's because she was hiding from her foster father who'd been stalking them for years, so I'm guessing she didn't want pictures of herself to in any way help him find her." Replied Liz.

In the police reports they had stolen they had discovered that Aaron Warton had eventually tracked her down, it was in that car chase that her adoptive parents had died.

It was at that moment that Liz looked up at the clock on the wall and exclaimed in surprise "Guys! We're late for class."

Michael groaned at the thought of attending some type of karate classes that Liz had insisted they attend. She was adamant that when they eventually found Max they would need some form of self-defence, especially her as she had no alien power to fall back on.

Except for her power of communicating telepathically. Over the past three years she had practiced regularly until she had reached her current level where she could communicate with anyone possessing the power.

After her near breakdown, Liz had found the strength from somewhere to pull Isabel and Michael out of their own depressions and had begun looking for clues for the two missing aliens.

Somehow she had become their new rock, and where they had previously looked for guidance from Max, they now looked toward her for it.

It was a role she didn't feel capable of having, but her own wants and needs came second, the search for Max came first. So if that meant leading two alien hybrids in a desperate search for the missing two, then so be it.

"We need this Michael, especially if we're going to attempt a rescue on our own. None of us want to use weapons in this attempt, that means we have to find other means to fight our way in and our way out!"

Michael nodded in understanding, before pulling himself off the sofa to get ready.

The girls gave each other small smiles before making their way to the bedroom they shared to get changed.

Maria turned the shower on and stepped in, she let the water run over her hot and sweaty body, it had been a great work out and now her trainer Mr. Han Sang Wu had asked her to take the next class.

She reached a hand out of the shower and picked up her watch, noticing she had 15 minutes till her next class she quickly turned the shower off and climbed out.

She felt the tension building in her body at the thought of leading her own class, although the faith that Mr Wu showed in her had a somewhat calming effect. If he said she could do it, then she believed him.

She'd spent her childhood training in all the forms of defence. For some reason she had always felt a desperate need to protect. What…she didn't know. It was like an ingrained sense of protectiveness which had pushed her to study all the different forms she came across, and now she had been given the opportunity to train others.

It was an exhilarating feeling. Maybe this was the reason for her countless ours of training, maybe she was meant to help other people achieve the enlightenment and discipline achieved from the training? Maybe she wouldn't feel so empty anymore.

Maybe.

Michael paced the hallway in front of the door, feeling his irritation growing at every passing minute "ISABEL! This is a form of Karate; it does not require you to have perfect hair and perfect makeup." He shouted in the direction of the bathroom.

Liz pulled on her jacket and looked at her watch, just as a perfectly made up Isabel joined them.

"That doesn't mean we have to look like homeless uneducated people" She looked pointedly at Michael and flicked her hair behind her shoulder.

"Then how come Liz doesn't spend her life primping to make herself look pretty if it's so important?" He demanded.

Liz arched both her eyebrows "are you saying I'm not pretty?"

Michael squinted at the two glaring girls, how did he always manage to put his foot in it when it came to woman? It was like everything was constantly coming out wrong and he was constantly being attacked for it.

In frustration he ran his fingers through his hair "no…I just meant. Uh…you don't need to 'cos you already look pretty…and stuff."

Isabel placed her hands on her hips in anger "and what? I don't?"

Michael whipped his head back and forth, feeling trapped between the two angry females.

Liz smiled, followed shortly by Isabel.

Sometimes he hated being the only guy around two women. Clearly this time they had been playing with him, but next time…could see the end of him!

Isabel picked up her coat, pleased with the payback she'd given Michael for rushing her when she was trying to get ready "what are we waiting for? Lets go."

Michael sighed and grabbed the keys for the second hand Ford they'd bought when they had moved here.

In the car Liz continued to page through all the information on the Whitman family, or whatever they were calling themselves now, their parents had died two years previously in the car wreck and there were no other relatives apart from a hippie aunt that was currently travelling the world. Liz sighed this was turning into another dead end.

She chewed on her fingernail an idea forming in her head; she tapped Isabel on the shoulder, "Izzy, what if you tried dreamwalking Alex Whitman, we have a picture of him."

Michaels face brightened at the idea, but Isabel looked doubtful.

"I don't know Liz, you know I haven't done that since that time I tried when Max was taken" she said, hoping that Liz would drop the painful subject.

To her dismay, Liz persisted ,"Yeah, but the reason you didn't get through to him is because we suspect he's being drugged, otherwise he would've already used his powers to escape. It had nothing to do with you, in fact if anything your powers are stronger than ever before."

Hope sprang anew at Liz's words "I don't know, I guess I could try" agreed Isabel. She still looked doubtful, but at least she was willing to try.

Maria waited for the beginners class to file in, it was a sea of unknown faces, until that is her eyes fell on those of Michaels, she couldn't believe her luck I must have really bad karma or something she thought to herself.

When Michael looked up and saw Maria's shocked face he actually smiled until he realized she was taking the class, his smile immediately fell from his face oh boy, something tells me this is going to hurt

After an hour of immense torture Michael realized he'd been right when he predicted it to be a painful experience, the lady of torture herself had used him numerous times for examples and he was already beginning to feel the after effects of it, and it hurt. He had so many aches and pains he couldn't even count them, not to mention the decided limp he now sported.

Liz giggled at the pained expression on Michaels face, when he heard her giggle he threw her a glare before storming out of the room.

Liz and Isabel hung around after classes hoping to get a few words with this woman who had not only beaten Michael up, but who had somehow captured his interest. She was tiny, with long strawberry blond hair and piercing green eyes.

"Is there anything I can help you two with?" She looked up from her task of packing away the mats; she recognized them as the girls who had come with that annoying guy from her apartment building. She briefly wondered if either of them were his girlfriend before reminding herself that she didn't care.

The blond one was very tall and strikingly pretty, the smaller one was a dark beauty with dark soulful eyes.

The blond was the first to respond to her question.

"Yeah, um, we were wondering if it would be possible to get extra lessons from you?"

Maria glanced over them as if studying their capability. "You guy's looked quite advanced to me, why would you need extra lessons?"

"We have done some of this before, and we were hoping to get into the advanced classes, but they were fully booked and this was the only one we could get into, and, well frankly it's just a waste of time, no offence, you look like a really good trainer and all…"

Maria waved her hand to stop the never-ending-speech, "none taken. Okay, if you're serious about it, be prepared to train hard, I'll meet you here every evening at 7:30."

Liz gave her a smile of gratitude "thanks Miss..?" She hesitated, realizing she didn't know her trainer's name.

"Deluca, Maria Deluca."

"Thanks Maria, by the way, I'm Liz Parker and this is my friend Isabel Evans."

As they made their way out of the room Isabel could feel a strange sensation of loss, in confusion she looked over her shoulder at Maria who had resumed her task of packing away the mats.

Unable to determine the cause of the feeling, she shrugged it off and followed Liz to the showers.

That night Isabel tried dreamwalking Alex, she got into his dream easy enough, but the most she could get from him was that they were still in the city, even though he was in a dream state it was like he realized the importance of keeping his sisters location a secret.

She saw him sitting in a room strumming at a guitar, somewhere in the shadows stood a woman, she was singing to the tune that Alex played on the guitar. All too soon the song ended and the dream shifted to Alex sitting at a computer, he seemed to be talking to an unseen person called 'Ria'. Could this 'Ria' be her sister? she wondered.

Isabel's eye's shot open as she left the dream, her breathing was ragged and she was perspiring from the effort, after all this had been her first dreamwalk in what, three years?

That same week she also had another vision of her sister, all she could make out was her blond hair, she couldn't see her features or location, but she did seem to be crying, and Isabel could read immense sadness from her, when she came out of the vision she realized that she had been crying too.

Liz opened up her bedside drawer and slipped the picture out, it had obviously been held many times over the years by the worn look it had. She lightly ran her fingers over the image silent tears running down her cheeks as she cried for the man she loved, the man who had been gone for over three years now. She had no doubt in her heart that he was still alive, the very fact that her heart was still beating was testimony to that fact. But alive or not, he was still out there somewhere, probably in a lot of pain, who knew what the FBI were doing to him?

It had been a hard decision moving to New York, but the three of them had agreed that it was a good place to start looking for both of the missing aliens. Isabel had had a vision a year ago indicating that her sister was somewhere here in the city, proving the clues that they had uncovered had been correct.

As for Max, well he could be anywhere, but they would never give up looking, and maybe if they found this fourth Alien, she would be able to combine her powers with Michael and Isabel thus hopefully aiding them in finding Max.

She gently placed the worn picture back into her drawer and shut it. Climbing under the covers she said another prayer, the same one she had recited for over three years for the safe return of her man, her soul mate.

They'd been coming to the gym for a month now, the three girls got along very well and even Michael was somewhat cordial, although when he'd first found out about the extra lessons he'd been furious to say the least.

begin flashback

"You did what?" Shouted Michael, outraged at their audacity of signing him up for a class he had no intention of attending, not if it was being led by that pixie from hell.

"Watch the road Michael." Admonished Isabel, before calmly continuing "I don't see why you're so upset, I mean we're never going to get anywhere if we stay in the beginners class."

"But why her?" Demanded Michael "she's like a..a...sadist!"

Liz groaned, getting tired of the argument "yeah whatever, it's called sexual tension Michael."

At this point Michael had turned around to glare at Liz and no doubt offer her some choice words on his thoughts, although before he could Isabel had screamed and grabbed the wheel as the car started to veer off the road narrowly missing a head on collision.

end flashback

But if Michael had been angry, Maria had been positively seething when she saw him walk in the next evening, she'd put on a calm face and had used Michael for some more 'examples', needless to say he'd walked out of there that night with plenty of bruises, but he'd gone back the night after, and the nights following that.

After their nightly training Liz and Isabel had left to go and shower, Michael hung back and waited for them to leave before walking back. Maria was still there packing up her stuff, humming a song as she worked; he cleared his throat attempting to get her attention. She looked up at him, her face devoid of all or any emotion.

"Yes Michael, is there something that you wanted?" She asked, trying to keep her voice from squeaking in nervousness.

Michael shifted his weight and looked down at his feet "uh yeah, I was wondering about, if..um..well..." He looked up at her, her eyebrows were raised and there was a look of amusement on her face, he lost his nerve and started to back away nervously, "never mind."

A fleeting look of disappointment flashed across her face before she masked it.

Half an hour later, the trio freshly showered were walking to their car, deep in conversation about the progress they had made in their training.

Liz interrupted the conversation to point out their trainer standing alone outside of the Gym. "Hey isn't that Maria? Maybe she needs a lift" she suggested looking up at Michael who shrugged and looked away what was with him tonight? She asked herself, frowning she grabbed his arm and led him and Isabel to where Maria was standing.

"Hey Maria, do you need a lift?" She asked as they approached the small girl.

Maria turned around her eyes briefly locking on Michaels before she averted them. Liz smiled Ah! So that's what's going on

"Uh no thanks, my brother should be here any min...Oh, there he is" she said pointing to the red car that was driving into the lot.

Liz turned from Maria to see a jetta pull to a stop beside the curb. A tall man, whom she assumed had to be Maria's brother climbed out of the vehicle and grinned at Maria, "hey 'Ria, sorry I'm late, I completely lost track of time."

"Let me guess, you and your fellow computer geeks got caught up in the latest techie craze to hit the web?" Teased Maria.

Maria's brother gave his sister an apologetic shrug before turning to greet her friends.

It was at that precise moment that Isabel saw his features clearly for the first time.

"It's you!"


	4. Twiced Blessed

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Four – Twice Blessed**

Summary: A prophesy of the Royal Four is uncovered. The Sheriff gets proof that Michael, Isabel and Max are aliens.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

Winston Churchill

"It's You!"

Alex looked around, confusion written all over his face, and to make matters even more weird, apart from the crazy hot chick there were two other people and they were also starring at him in amazement.

Briefly he wondered if he had just stepped into the twilight zone "excuse me?" He croaked, nervous with the attention, especially since the attention was coming from such a beautiful girl.

Under no normal circumstances would a girl like that be paying so much attention to him, so he concluded that he was still at home and dreaming, which meant that he was going to be late to pick his sister up, so he had better wake up.

Just five more minutes he promised himself as a small smile broke out on his face.

Isabel watched as his expression turned from one of confusion to one of contentment. Clearly he was weird, but that was not the issue here.  
As she stood on the sidewalk outside of the Gym, her mind worked overtime as she began to realize the significance of who Alex was. If this guy was Maria's brother, and if this guy was the adoptive brother of her sister, that made Maria her missing sister.

Isabel's eyes flooded with tears as she stumbled to Maria's side and pulled her into a hug. She knew that she was probably frightening the poor girl, but at this point it was her emotions that were controlling her and she was incapable of pulling away from the sister she had spent the past couple of years searching for.

"I can't believe we found you; do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" Sobbed Isabel as her friends watched on in amazement.

Alex decided that he was definitely not dreaming 'cos only life could be so cruel as to have the woman of his dreams fawning all over his sister.

"Hello! Anybody care to explain what's going on here?"

Maria pushed herself out of Isabel's embrace repeating her brother's question. A look of wariness on her face as she slowly backed away a few steps.

Liz who had come to the same conclusion as Isabel decided to explain, mostly because Isabel was in no state to speak and Michael was still staring in shock at Maria. "This is going to be difficult to explain..."

Alex looked at her then at Isabel and Michael, clearly waiting for some explanation no matter how hard it was.

"Maria is…uh…Isabel's sister." She began, unsure of how to continue.

Alex gave her a look of disbelief "how do you figure?"

"We were separated when we were six; we also have a brother who's been missing for the last three years" explained Isabel.

"Look, I'm sorry about your missing brother and sister it must be really hard, but that doesn't explain why you think I'm your sister" spoke up Maria in sympathy.

Maria made as if to leave but Michael stopped her with a hand to her arm "hear us out... please."

Maria looked at his pleading face before sighing and crossing her arms "fine, speak fast or I'm outta here."

"Do you remember anything from your childhood? Before you were six?" Prompted Liz, hoping to jar a memory within Maria.

"Not much. Just that I was found wondering around when I was five, nothing before that" she answered, feeling a shiver up her spine at the direction of the question. How could these people know about what happened thirteen years previously?

"You were found by my adoptive parents...outside of our house." Said Isabel

Maria felt herself growing scared. "That doesn't prove anything, how can you be sure it was even me?"

"We've done the research believe me, and I've also had visions about you Maria."

"Visions? Okay I wasn't sure before, but now I'm convinced you guys are crazy, goodbye, see you in another life" she said turning around towards the jetta.

Isabel felt herself growing desperate "wait! Have you ever noticed something different about yourself, like special powers?"

Maria's eyes narrowed "you work for Aaron don't you? I can't believe I almost fell for your story, how did you find me?" She demanded furiously.

"Aaron was your foster father wasn't he? How did he find out about you?" Asked Michael.

Alex felt himself becoming more and more confused by the second. "Find out what?"

Maria looked close to tears "please, I just want to be left alone to lead a normal life, why can't you people understand that?"

Isabel gave her a look full of pain "we know, we're just like you trying to live a normal life, but we can't because we're different, and it's because of those differences that Max, our brother was kidnapped" cried Isabel.

"What differences? Kidnapped?" Demanded Alex, still at a loss to what was transpiring around him.

"I know you remember something, I can see if in your face" continued Isabel, ignoring the questions from Alex.

Just then all Maria's long buried memories came unbidden to the surface and she remembered, she remembered everything.

But it couldn't be real could it? It had all just been the fantasy of a lonely child...or had it?

The memories...fantasies, whatever you wanted to call it felt so real. Could Isabel really be her missing family? Something inside her tugged at her heart, and she felt as if she knew the answer - had always known from the moment she first met Isabel over a month ago.

Closing her eyes, Maria let her memories come to the surface...the memories that she'd kept locked up for so long.

She remembered a sac of some sort, she remembered climbing out of it only to find they'd already left and she was all alone and very frightened.

Without thinking, Maria began to talk, "I was so scared, but I could feel you, I walked for two days until I reached this house and I just knew you were inside, hoping you'd come outside and find me. But these people came and took me away, and I...I tried to tell them but they just kept telling me it was a dream...and I eventually came to believe them." Maria's body shook as she sobbed; Alex put his arms protectively around her keeping everyone else at bay.

Tears poured down Isabel's face "Maria please!" She begged as she reached out a hand to Maria imploring her only to be stopped by an angry look from Alex.

"Don't you people think you've done enough already?"

Isabel looked helplessly at Liz and Michael as Maria pulled herself out of Alex's arms. "I need some time alone, to think. Do you think we could all meet at my place tomorrow for dinner to talk about it?"

Isabel smiled gratefully and nodded, Liz grabbed Isabel's hand for support and Michael put an arm around her. Alex obviously wasn't pleased but kept his thoughts to himself, instead he grabbed Maria's hand and helped her into the Jetta, Maria's tear streaked face looked out at the trio as the car pulled away.

Liz, Michael and Isabel hugged each other, joy evident on their faces.

Still grinning, Michael pulled away from his friends and began walking towards their car, turning to look at the girls he lifted his eyebrows and asked "well are you two coming or not?"

Isabel and Liz looked at each other and smiled, things were finally starting to look good.

Isabel had woken up that morning for the first time in many years with a smile on her face. Finally life was starting to go right, and she couldn't help feeling optimistic about finding Max and reuniting her family.

When the phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts she snatched it up quickly "Hello?"

"Izzy is that you sweetheart?" Came the question from the other end of the line.

Isabel felt her smile spreading "yeah, hi dad."

"How are things going up there?"

"It's going really well, we found my sister - can you believe it?" She exclaimed excitedly, unable to hold the news in for a second longer.

"Oh Is, I'm so happy for you honey."

"We're having dinner with her tonight."

"Well good luck, I'll be thinking of you. I just wanted to let you know that I've sent up all the information on the Eagle Rock Military Base for you, but it's not much I didn't want anyone getting suspicious."

"Oh daddy thank you, I'm sure it will be enough."

"What makes you think that that's where they're holding Max?"

"We've basically ruled out everywhere else."

"Well okay, but please honey be careful, I couldn't handle losing you too."

"We will, and we'll bring Max back to you."

"I know you will. Good bye honey, remember we love you Isabel."

"I Love you too dad, bye." Isabel put down the phone and walked into the kitchen "hmmm, what smells so good?" She sniffed the air in appreciation.

Michael turned around and grinned "Tabasco flavored pancakes."

Walking into the kitchen in time to hear the offerings for breakfast, Liz pretended to gag at the mention of pancakes that tasted of Tabasco.

"Don't worry Liz; I've got bland flavored pancakes for you too." He said, waving the spatula in the air for emphasis.

"Well that's a relief, but how long is it gonna take? I have to be at work in an hour."

"Speaking of which, how is work going?" Asked Isabel as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.

"Not too bad, it's not the Molecular Biologist stuff I wanted to do, but at least I'm working in a lab environment. Anyway it's only temporary until we find Max, then I'll go back to college."

"Stop chitchatting girls, grubs up and I didn't slave over a hot stove all morning for you two to stand there and have a gab fest" interrupted Michael as he placed the pancake loaded plates on the kitchen table.

Liz smiled as she took her place at the table "someone's in a good mood this morning."

"Yeah, I think you may have climbed out of the wrong side of the bed this morning" added Isabel as she too took a place at the table.

"Maybe you should go back to bed and climb out the other side" suggested Liz, a full out grin spreading across her face "this happy you is beginning to freak me out."

"You two are a barrel of laughs" scowled Michael as he dished up his plate of food "you've missed your calling as a couple of clowns in the circus."

"Did he just call me a clown?" Questioned Isabel.

Liz gave her friend a nod as she put on her 'serious' face "I believe he did."

"Very brave of him" growled Isabel.

Liz swallowed her mouthful of food before responding "or very stupid."

Michael glared at both girls as he pointed his fork at them "just eat your food."

Alex handed his subdued sister a mug of hot chocolate. Something their mother had made for them whenever they were sad.

"Feel like talking about it?" He asked as he sat down beside her.

She shrugged "i'm not sure how to put what i'm feeling right now into words."

Alex gave her a long look before continuing "Ria, have you considered that these people are a bunch of crazies, picking up from where Aaron left off?"

Maria nodded "It's possible."

He watched her take a tentative sip of hot chocolate, testing to see if it was cool enough to drink "but you don't think so?"

Maria placed her mug on the coffee table and turned to face her brother. "Alex, we've never really talked about why Aaron spent all those years chasing us."

"I don't remember much from those days Ria, but I do have one clear memory of mom and dad packing our bags into the car, I think we were in Seattle at the time. Anyway, mom was talking about what Aaron would do to you if he got hold of you. She was scared that he would go public with your 'specialness'. That's what she called it."

Alex paused.

"When we were kids, strange things always happened when you were around. Floating toys...all my toy cars miraculously turning pink. I always knew there was something different with you. I guess when we got older and the strange things stopped happening I chose to put those occurrences behind us, but i've never forgotten."

Maria nodded.

"I think I stopped using my powers, or whatever you want to call them when I realised that it wasn't normal. And more than anything else in the world I wanted to be normal, because maybe then, Araon would leave us alone. But the thing is Alex, it's still a part of me. I don't know what it is, or where it comes from and I have all these questions burning inside me, and maybe now, I can finally get the answers. Michael, Isabel and Liz have the answers to those questions. I need to know Alex...I need to know why i'm different."

"I don't care why you're different. I just want you to stay safe and i'm scared these people are going to hurt you."

Maria blinked away tears. "Alex, even though I haven't used my powers in years, they're still there inside of me. Last night when I let all my memories surface, so did those dormant powers...I could feel a connection to Isabel. Like an invisible link. I believe she's telling the truth, that she's my sister."

Alex nodded reluctantly "I'll agree to hear them out, other than that, I can't promise anything."

ROSWELL SHERIFF'S STATION

As Cade Foster walked into the Sheriffs office he couldn't get over the irony of him a wanted man freely walking into a Sheriffs office, but this had to be done and it seemed that the only person who was capable of helping him was Sheriff Jim Valenti.

Wiping his perspiring hands on his jeans, he followed the deputy into the Sheriff's office.

Jim Valenti reached out and shook the mans hand before seating himself back in his chair and indicating the other chair for Cade to sit in.

"Mister...?" Began the Sheriff, clueless as to why the out-of-towner had insisted on speaking to him.

Cade felt himself momentarily unable to come up with an alias, "uh…Jackson, Cade Jackson."

"Well Mister Jackson, what can I do for you?"

"Sheriff, look, I don't want to mince words, it's imperative I find Max and Isabel Evans and I was hoping that you knew where they were."

The Sheriff leaned back in his chair silently looking over the man in front of him. "Maxwell Evans disappeared over three years ago Mister Jackson."

Cade sighed and rubbed the back of his head as if he'd just experienced an immediate headache from the news, "I was hoping that was just a ruse, you know so that the Gua wouldn't find him."

Sheriff Valenti had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to play along; maybe he would finally get the information he had been looking for.

Cade continued, "this complicates things, obviously the Gua don't have him or they would've done something already, that must mean the FBI know about him and are holding him somewhere."

He looked at Valenti who nodded in reply.

"We have to find him and reunite him with the other three before the Gua find him, because if that happens we're all dead."

Cade had come there presuming the Sheriff was in the Aliens confidence.

Eddie, his partner had come to this conclusion because of how much the Sheriff obviously knew and because he hadn't gone to the Feds with the information, he had no idea that the Sheriff was keeping the information he knew to himself for personal reasons until had found more proof.

So now he sat, unwittingly giving the Sheriff all the proof he needed to pursue his obsession with Max Evans.

Jim Valenti smiled, encouraging the stranger to continue his story.


	5. Royal Flush

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"**

**Chapter Five – Royal Flush**

Summary: The stranger tells the Sheriff all about Max, Isabel and Michael's origins.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

"If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative."

- Arthur C. Clarke

Sheriff Valenti leaned in close to Cade and prompted him for more information "mind telling me why these kids are so important to you?"

"It's a long story, I won't go into all the details, but the short of it is that there is a race of aliens trying to take over earth and with the help of previously undiscovered prophesies from Nostradamus I've been fighting them. A while back my partner and I managed to decipher another quatrain of Nostradamus's prophecies; basically these four are our only hope for survival."

The Sheriff quietly tried to understand what he was hearing. Was Max another species of alien trying to take over the earth? Until now he'd believed that Max was the only one, now he considered the possibility that his sister, Isabel and his friend, Michael were also alien, but no one else sprang to mind. "You're mistaken; there are only three of them, and what is it that you mean by only hope for survival?"

"No there are four, but this means you've found the third one too? I thought that only two of them were in Roswell. Which leads me to my question, who is the third alien?"

"Look Mister Jackson, I'm not about to divulge any information to you until I know that I can trust you." Or more correctly, that he wasn't some alien hunter nut case.

"All right, I'm willing to tell you what I know, but only because they trusted you." He paused. "Some time ago I was convicted of the murder of my wife, I was framed by the Gua. The Gua being the race of aliens I mentioned earlier. It was part of some of their experiments on the human mind and endurance, anyway I escaped and with some information managed to find these journals of Nostradamus's, he predicted me, he predicted the Gua and he predicted the destruction of earth in three terrifying waves, the first wave is already here. The Gua are an evil race of aliens, they are here to destroy us and take over earth, I've been fighting them for some time now, but I'm only one man and the truth of the matter is that they're too powerful, we don't stand a chance."

He paused. Taking a deep breath, he continued.

"Or so I believed until I deciphered the quatrain predicting four aliens as our only hope, it is remarkable what they are capable of and I need to find them so that I can set their destiny in motion, I'm willing to believe that they don't know about their destinies or even how powerful they are. Sheriff, I can't stress to you enough how important it is that we find them, our whole world is at stake."

"How did you track them to Roswell?"

"The quatrains were pretty explicit, mentioning a crash in the forties. My first thought was the Roswell Incident in '47. So I started investigating the town. That's when I discovered your investigation into Max Evans and the shooting at the Crashdown Café. That led me to investigate Max, which is when I discovered that both he and his sister Isabel had been found in the desert in the eighties. This fit in with the information I deciphered from the quatrain. All of this led me to you, it was obvious that you had discovered their true identities and were helping to protect them, and since I can't find them, I've come to you."

Jim Valenti wasn't sure if anything he'd just heard made any sense whatsoever, but he continued with his questioning none-the-less.

"How would I know that you're not one of those Gua people setting up some sort of trap?"

"You don't, we're going to have to trust each other here, and you have to realize that I am also at risk here, you could be Gua, and even if you're not, you are a Sheriff and I am a man wanted for murder."

The Sheriff smiled, he could not believe his luck, naturally this guy could be a nutter, although he was also not surprised by the fact that Max was an alien, he'd long since suspected it and probably even had enough evidence to prove it. And now sitting before him was a man verifying his suspicions and a felon to boot. This was too good to be true.

Sheriff Valenti decided to sit on all this information and see where it took him.

"Okay Mister Jackson, I'll help you find these kids, but I want to be involved with everything from this day forward."

"Deal. By the way, the names Foster, Cade Foster."

Phillip Evans opened his door to find Sheriff Valenti and another man standing on his threshold expectantly.

"Sheriff?"

"Phillip, mind if we come in and talk to you?"

Phillip let the men in and led them to his study, the whole time his mind wondered at the significance of the visit.

This could not bode well, Isabel had told him how the Sheriff had become obsessed with Max after the shooting at the Crashdown and now he was in his house.

Phillip sat behind his desk and waited for the men to seat themselves and explain their presence.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"How's Diane holding up?" Asked Jim, deliberately avoiding the question.

Phillip gave the Sheriff a look of confusion before answering. He knew the man was not here to ask about his wife's well being. "She's doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances, how about your boy, how's he doing?"

"Kyle's good, he's in college now on a football scholarship" Jim answered, a touch of pride in his voice.

Phillip nodded, but said no more.

"I need to talk to you about your kids Phillip."

Phillip felt his heartbeat increase at the mention of his children.

The Sheriff indicated Cade "this is Cade Foster, he has an interesting tale to tell you."

"I'm afraid sir that what I have to tell you may come as a shock" began Cade.

Jim used the opportunity to study Phillip's reaction to the story. It came as no surprise to him that Phillip seemed to be aware of his children's alien status. Which begged the question, why was Phillip Evans protecting them. Could these kids really be the good guys in this whole scenario. Had he been chasing the wrong aliens this entire time? And if what Cade said was true, that these kids were here to protect earth, then he had made a grievous mistake by chasing after them.

In fact, his investigation into Max was probably what had led to the young mans disappearance. Had he just cost Earth their only hope at survival…or was he placing too much importance on one teenage boy?

It was a troubling thought.

When Cade had finished repeating the same story he'd told the Sheriff earlier Phillip Evans was dumbfounded, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, they were talking about his children and the burden that they were now forced to carry at such a young age, it just wasn't fair.

The Sheriff sat forward "Phillip, I think it's time you got Isabel back here."

PART THREE: THE RESCUE

Isabel took a deep breath and knocked on Maria's door, it was opened by Alex who reluctantly let them in.

They greeted each other then stood nervously in the foyer uncomfortable and unsure of what to say.

Maria walked in then and led them through to the living room.

Once they were all seated and sipping on their soda's Maria spoke up "Okay, I think it's time that you guy's told me everything."

Isabel gave Michael and Liz a look before answering "we don't know much really, only that we think we were in the 1947 crash and were kept in a sort of stasis until 1989, after we left the pods I guess we were all separated."

"Wait! Are you speaking about the infamous Roswell Incident…as in aliens? As in my sister is an alien?" Interrupted Alex.

Liz nodded "Isabel will explain everything."

Alex snorted in disbelief but said nothing; instead he gave his sister a look to indicate his disdain for the whole conversation, she, however, chose to ignore him. Her attention focused solely on Isabel and the story she was being told.

"You were still in your pod and Michael didn't want to come with us, so Max and I were the first ones found. We were lucky and got adopted; Michael was found later and put into foster care. About three years ago we found the pod chamber – which is where we were in stasis for so many years. It was then we realized that there were four pods and so therefore another one of us. It was a hard discovery to make, because we had no idea where you were, if you were okay. Immediately we started investigating, trying to find anything about you or your whereabouts. We discovered from old newspaper articles that you had been found outside of our house, but you were taken away before we even knew you were there. Then Max went missing and we became lost. We had nothing to go on, no clues to either one of your whereabouts. We stumbled on like that for two years, grasping at any clue or idea until about a year ago. That was when I had a vision about you that's how we knew you were somewhere here; my vision corroborated everything we had already discovered from the police reports and newspaper articles. We've been searching for you and Max for the past three years." Finished Isabel, her voice choking on the last couple of words.

Tears welled up in Maria's eyes, she knew Isabel was telling her the truth; she had the memories, memories that she had repressed for many years in fear of being crazy. In front of her sat her sister, her blood. Maria was unable to deny her past nor the fact that she was something other than human.

Standing up from her seat she stumbled over to where Isabel was sitting and hugged her; eventually the newly reunited sisters pulled away from each other smiling through their tears.

Maria looked at Liz "are you…"

Liz shook her head, anticipating the question "no, I'm not one of you, I'm just the poor sucker who fell helplessly in love with your brother, and who is hopelessly lost without him."

Maria reached out a hand to Liz "I'm sorry."

She then turned to Michael, instinctively she knew that he was also one of them, maybe not family through blood, but family through their shared secret.

Isabel looked nervously at Alex, unsure of what his reaction would be to all of this, he caught her look and correctly interpreted it's meaning.

"Don't worry about me, we've always known about Maria's uh…differences, especially after her psycho ex foster father tracked us down, he'd seen her do some things when she was in his care and wanted to exploit her for money. Of course this whole alien thing is new, although maybe not as crazy as it first sounded like. If Maria says you're for real, then I guess I'm on board with this whole alien thing. But only because I believe in 'Ria, you three I'm still a little wary of. Don't take it personally though, I'm a little over-protective and paranoid after the action packed life of panic we've had to endure. I'm sure you're all nice…aliens, but it'll be awhile before I trust you."

"That's why you changed your name from Whitman to Deluca, to hide from Aaron." Said Liz giving Alex a sideways glance as she spoke to Maria. She wandered if Alex was as comfortable with the news as he made out, the last thing they needed was a panicked Alex running around screaming 'Alien's are living in my apartment complex and they're trying to convert my sister to one of them' to all who would listen.

"Enough about the past, I think it's time we joined forces and started looking for this brother of mine that I've yet to meet, and yet I get the feeling he is someone remarkable by just the way you guys talk about him" said Maria through her tears.

Liz, Isabel and Michael grinned, they couldn't have said it better themselves.

Back at their apartment Liz saw that the mail from Mr. Evans had arrived, the trio went into the living room to open it. Whilst paging through the reams of information the phone rang, so Isabel put down the pages she was holding to go and answer it.

"Hello?"

"Isabel? I'm so glad to finally get you, I've been phoning all night."

Isabel frowned, her heart jumping in her chest as she heard the edge of panic in her father's voice "Is everything alright?"

"Isabel, I think it's time you came back home to Roswell."

"Why? What's happened?"

"You guy's are in danger, you need to come home, there's a man here, Cade Foster, he can explain everything to you, please sweetie come home."

Isabel hesitated, her father sounded really scared. Running the options through her head she decided that they would have eventually returned to Roswell to follow up on the Eagle Rock lead, so she agreed "Okay daddy, just give us a few days to sort things out here."

Isabel put down the phone and looked at Liz and Michael who were looking at her with worried expressions, before she could explain there was a knock at the door, Michael opened it and found a flustered Maria standing there. "You guys have got to see this."

They all sat around Alex as he printed something from his computer.

"When you guy's left I decided to get some more information on aliens and anything UFO related" explained Alex.

"Are you crazy? What if there are people out there tracking anyone who looks for this kind of information in case it turns out to be an idiot like you who can lead them straight to a bunch of aliens?" Growled Michael, angry that Alex might have endangered them.

Alex gave Michael a look of disbelief, obviously Michael was one big ball of paranoia waiting to explode. Or crazy. Either way, maybe it wasn't so great that Maria had found her long-lost-family, these people had major issues, and he didn't want Maria getting hurt by any of it.

Remembering his promise to Maria to give them a chance, Alex continued "highly doubtful, but my connection is untraceable anyway, so we're safe."

Turning his attention away from Michael, Alex pulled the sheets of paper out of the printer "anyway, this is what I found" he handed them each a copy of what was titled the Paranoid Times, it's creator being a guy named Cade Foster and another man called Eddie.

Isabel gasped "this is they guy who is in Roswell this minute waiting to talk to us."

At the questioning look on everybody's faces she explained about the call from her father.

Michael glanced at the page in front of him, but chose not to read the article "so what is this Paranoid Times s'posed to be?"

"Well according to this Cade guy, Nostradamus predicted all of this, by this I mean you guys and also another race of aliens, evil aliens called the Gua who are here to destroy earth. It doesn't go into much detail about it; my guess is he's keeping it to himself for now. The rest of his theories and what he's managed to uncover so far are interesting to say the least."

"This guy sounds like his lift doesn't go all the way to the top" grumbled Michael, annoyed that he'd rushed over for an article about evil aliens.

"Yeah but it's too unbelievable, that's what makes it believable!" Exclaimed Alex excitedly.

Michael looked at Alex as if he'd completely lost his head.

Isabel spoke up before Michael could make another disparaging remark "what does it say about us?"

"It just mentions a pre-ordained destiny about four aliens who arrived on earth in the 1940's but who only entered society in the late 1980's."

"So how do you know that it's us?" Asked Isabel.

"Who else?"

She couldn't argue with that, it certainly seemed like the article was about them, and now this guy was in Roswell claiming that they were in danger.

"So I guess we're going home" stated Liz.

Everyone nodded.


	6. Training Day

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Six – Training Day**

Summary: The five friends return to Roswell where they discover the true reason for their presence on earth.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

"You can't say that civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way."

Will Rogers

Isabel looked around the airport terminal until she saw her dad frantically waving his arms in an attempt to get her attention, she went sailing into his arms dropping her luggage in the process and leaving a grumbling Alex to pick it up. Alex looked up at Michael hoping for some assistance.

"Do I look like a baggage handler?" He asked before he walked off leaving a very annoyed Alex with the luggage.

Isabel pulled out of her fathers arms to indicate Maria who was standing behind her nervously clutching her luggage to her chest "Dad, I want you to meet my sister – Maria."

Phillip Evans didn't hesitate; he pulled the skittish girl into a hug "any sister of Isabel's is like a daughter of mine" he paused "which under normal circumstances would be a really strange statement to make."

He laughed at his own joke. "Welcome to our family Maria...and you are family."

Maria smiled and thanked him; Phillip then pulled Liz and an uncomfortable Michael into another hug. Alex chose that moment to join them looking very haggard and trying to balance large amounts of bags in his arms, he threw an angry look at Michael who shrugged and looked away.

Phillip noticed the new addition to the group "you must be Maria's brother; Alex, pleased to meet you son."

"Thanks, you too Mr. Evans."

"Please, we're practically family, call me Phil, here let me help you with your luggage" he said whilst reaching for some of the bags, that a grateful Alex handed over.

Mr Evans then led the group of five young adults out of the terminal to his car.

Isabel opened the door to the house she'd grown up in and hadn't seen in over a year. It was strange walking into the home that held so many good childhood memories and yet so many sad teenage ones.

Her last couple of years in this house had been full of pain and turmoil. Her stomach clenched as the memories assailed her.

With her mind thus distracted, it took her a full thirty seconds to register the presence of two people in her living room.

When eventually she did, her feet stopped dead in its tracks, her mouth instantly running dry as fear overcame her.

Isabel's mind screamed that this could not be happening. Not now, not when they were so close to finding Max.

Before her sat the Sheriff.

Michael grunted in surprise as he walked into the stationary Isabel.

Expecting a scathing comment from his lack of attention, he immediately began planning his own retort when he noticed the stiff posture of her back.

Her fear was easily readable, and the tension in the room so thick you could almost see it.

Peering around his long-time friend, his eyes narrowed in anger as he too saw the object of her fear.

"What the friggin' hell are you doing here?" he ground out. The muscles in his jaw contracting as he bit back the more colourful expletive's in his vocabulary.

Phillip Evans stepped into the house in time to hear Michael's question.

Cursing himself for not mentioning the welcoming party that would be waiting for them back at the house, Phillip stepped beside Michael "he's here to help."

He led Isabel to a sofa and sat down beside her, Maria and Alex who were unaware of what was going on followed them in, Liz brought up the rear, sending Michael a fearful glance as she walked in. Michael chose to stay near the door, far away from the Sheriff whom he did not trust.

Phillip introduced Cade to the children and Jim to the newcomers in the group before allowing Cade to take the floor.

Cade turned to Isabel "your father didn't indicate how much of your destiny you are aware of, so I'm not sure where to begin…"

Isabel said nothing, instead, returning Cade's look with one of distrust.

Cade shifted uncomfortably in his seat "I guess I'll just tell you everything I know."

Everyone remained quiet.

"If you were wondering – I'm not an alien. I'm human, but like you I have a destiny. One that I may not want or care for, but one that I have none-the-less."

He gave each of them a look before continuing, "Like you, there are other aliens on earth, but unlike you their intentions are not good. Each of you has lived previously – as royalty on a planet called Antar."

Cade pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, on it was printed picture of the constellations "this is where you are from" he indicated a particular constellation that was shaped as a V.

This time the three aliens showed a sign of listening as all three leant forward to get their first ever look of their home.

Before anyone could comment, Cade continued with his story "Your planet was at war for many years until it eventually fell, and it only fell after you were killed. What you need to understand is that your planet could never, would never fall whilst you all lived, for this reason you were targeted and killed."

Cade wasn't sure if he was giving them too much information in too short a period of time. But time was a luxury they did not have, and these people needed to know the truth.

"For centuries your people had been aware of the imminent war, and they prepared extensively for it. That was how you arrived on earth. Your essence, soul, ka, whatever you prefer to call it, was preserved and sent to earth in human bodies. Your planet brought you back to life so that you could have a second chance at destroying your enemies, the very enemies that have followed you here and who are determined to wipe you out once again so that they can finish this planet off as they did with yours. They only reason Earth is still safe is because your very essences are protecting it and it is for that very reason that you are in danger – they cannot allow you to live."

Cade paused to allow them to digest the information.

Isabel sat wide eyed next to her father, across from her sat Maria clutching painfully to her brother and at the entrance to the living room stood Michael, scowling.

"The Gua – your enemies, targeted me years ago in the hopes that they could put an end to my destiny before it even started. They were aware that someone on earth would help the Royal Four discover their destinies, they call me the Twice Blessed Man…the funny thing is…I never would have known about you had they not targeted me. Their attack put my own destiny and by connection your destiny in motion. It was then that I discovered the prophesies, the warnings, the exact dates times and locations of certain experiments that the Gua would exact on people. Through years of studying the prophesies, I eventually came across the one depicting the Royal Four, Nostradamus describes you as humanities last stand against the end of days."

Cade watched as Isabel and Michael shared a look.

"The prophesies describe you as the Royal Four. The King, protector of his planet, his essence is what kept Antar safe for so long and is what keeps Earth safe for the moment. The King's sister, the Visioner. Her visions and the visions of her predecessors were what ultimately warned them of the danger; it gave them the extra time they needed to prepare the essences for removal from Antar. The Chosen One, also sister to the King. Born with the duty of protecting the King and his essence. The last Royal, Second in Command, also a Chosen One, he too was born with the duty to protect above all else the King and his Essence."

Cade steeled himself for the finale "The Gua will destroy this planet in three waves, we're in the first one now, and if we don't find Max, we might find ourselves with a front row seat to the end of the world."

Silence engulfed the room as Cade finished.

It was a huge amount of information for each of them to take in, Cade had as good as told them that they were in effect dead aliens walking. They were being hunted by both humans and aliens.

Michael shifted uneasily. As much information as this was for him to digest, now was not the time, because they had bigger problems, like the fact that the Sheriff had been given everything he needed to pursue his obsession with them.

"Questions?" asked Cade.

Michael interrupted "Yeah, what I want to know is, what the hell has he got to do with any of this?" He glared pointedly at the Sheriff.

All eyes fell nervously on the Sheriff who answered the question "Mr. Foster came to me first with all this information."

Michael was not happy "which leads me to another question, why did he go to you, and why aren't you squealing to the feds?"

"Because if what Mr. Foster says is true, I can't very well condemn the very…uh…people responsible for the safety of this planet."

Cade looked at the Sheriff in confusion "I don't understand, I thought you already knew, I would never have come to you otherwise."

"Well I suspected, but I was never in their confidence as you thought" admitted Valenti.

Cade did not look happy about this revelation but he realized that he had no choice now but to trust the Sheriff. The question was, could he trust the Sheriff?

"I realize you're all still taking all of this in, and I understand that some if not all of it will have come as a shock. But at the risk of sounding insensitive, we don't have time for you to digest this. We've got work to do and in order to do it, I need to know who is who in the whole Royal Four Scheme of things?"

The five teens looked at each other. When no one spoke, Liz took the lead "Obviously Max is the King. You mentioned that the King has two sisters, so that has to be Max right?"

"You mean you don't know?" Questioned Cade. He knew from the quatrains that he was needed to lead them towards discovering their destinies, what he hadn't realized was how little of themselves they new. He'd assumed that they must have had some knowledge, at the very least a basic idea of their mission.

Isabel shook her head. "You know more about us than we do."

Alex spoke up, hoping to move the attention away from how little they knew to something more constructive like figuring out who they were. "So then by simple deduction, Michael is a Chosen One."

"That leaves Isabel and Maria. Do you guys have any idea which one of you is the Visioner and which one is the Chosen One?" Asked Phillip.

Both girls shook their heads.

It felt like a dead-end, until Liz broke the silence "wait! Isabel! You've had visions. You knew Max had been kidnapped, and you knew where to find Maria!"

"So that answers that then" Said Phillip.

Michael disagreed "what about my vision about the pod chamber?"

"No Michael, I think what you had was a memory surfacing in your dreams" replied Liz, confident in her reasoning. "What you saw was a place from your past!"

Isabel agreed "and besides I'm guessing we each have the ability to do everything each other can do, but in the end, we're each strongest on one particular thing. Like Max and healing, yet both you and I are capable of healing small cuts, minor headaches, that sort of thing."

"Besides" continued Maria "unless you're a girl, you can't be the Visioner".

Michael gave Maria a look of irritation "I wasn't suggesting that I was, I was just trying to make a point about this whole specified power crap!"

"And you point is?"

"It's stupid" he gave her a look that dared her to pursue this topic of conversation.

Maria chose not to take the bait, Michael was obviously spoiling for a fight, and as much as she'd like to take him down a peg or two, they had more pressing issues to deal with.

"Okay, so what now?" Liz prompted, eager to begin their search for Max.

Michael gave her the answer she was looking for "we find Max."

Cade shook his head in objection "no, you three need to work together first, advance your powers otherwise all you will be doing is putting yourself in danger. You need to reach your highest capabilities, when you do, then we get Max."

It was frightening how little these young adults knew about themselves, and there was no way he would let them loose against experienced Gua and Government Agents until they were more equipped to handle themselves.

"Hey, I don't recall nominating you leader of our group."

"Michael, I'm not trying to usurp anyone here, but the fact remains that I know more about you and the people you will be fighting than any of you do. If Max is that important to you, then at least give yourself time to prepare because you're only going to get one shot at this."

"So what do the rest of us do in the meantime?" Asked Alex.

"We find out where they're holding Max, so that as soon as Michael, Isabel and Maria are ready we can go and get him" said Liz firmly, determined to be a part of the search and rescue.

"So then we all agree?" Questioned Isabel.

With some reluctance on Michael's part because of the delay, they all eventually agreed.

Isabel opened her eyes and looked around her room, it brought back so many memories, memories she didn't want to remember, memories of Max.

Everything in her room remained the same as it had one year ago when she'd first left to begin her search for her sister.

On the wall hung her posters from pop groups and movie stars, on the dresser mirror were photo's from happier times.

"Morning"

Isabel looked over at the cot next to her bed where Maria was currently snuggled. "Morning, how did you sleep?"

"Like a log." Came the sleepy reply.

After a moment of silence Maria hesitantly asked "Isabel, you've never mentioned your mom, and I didn't see her yesterday?"

Isabel turned in her bed to face her sister "That's because she's not here. About a year and a half ago she was diagnosed with cancer, at first it seemed like she was getting better, then about six months ago she had a relapse and had to be admitted to ICU. My mom's sister is a nurse at a Cancer Facility outside of Miami, it specialises in my mothers type of cancer and they've been having fantastic results. Almost all of their patients have gone into full remission. So my Aunt managed to get my mother admitted, she's been there for the past couple of months and is doing really well, they even discharged her into my Aunt's care, this way she's still monitored and can return to the clinic on a weekly basis for treatment. My dad and I try and visit every month, depending on finances, but hopefully that won't be for much longer because she might be coming home soon." Isabel smiled, allowing herself to hope that maybe her mother was on the mend.

Maria listened attentively during the explanation, she could hear the pain in Isabel's voice as she spoke about her mother, but she had also noticed the hope she had for the progress her mother was making. "Does she know about you being an alien?" Asked Maria, hoping her questions were not too personal.

"No, when I finally told my dad about a year ago, we agreed she was in no condition to deal with information of that magnitude. We're hoping that she'll be home soon and when the time is right we'll tell her."

"How did your dad take it?"

"Actually, surprisingly well. As it was he was already suspicious about the disappearance and all the discrepancies of the official reports so he was already doing investigations of his own. It turned out he had some home videos of us doing a few 'remarkable' stuff as kids, so he was already on track to figuring it out himself."

Maria nodded in understanding. It sounded as if her sister had dealt with quite of few harsh blows in the past three years. First discovering that she had a sister that was missing, then the disappearance of her brother and then her mother's cancer.

Maria's heart went out to Isabel as she desperately sought for a change in conversation topic, anything to draw her mind away from the terrible fate life had dealt her.

There were a few minutes of silence as Maria formed a plan, with her resolve set, she broke the silence with a giggle, already imagining the face of her brother who would be her guinea pig in her plan to cheer up her sister.

Sister…it felt strange referring to Isabel as her sister, yet at the same time, it felt right.

"What's so funny?" Asked Isabel in surprise.

"I was just picturing Alex's face when we shock him awake by jumping all over him. He's not a morning person and will probably die of hysterics, especially with his over-active-imagination and all of our recent discoveries about the existence of aliens."

Isabel felt herself enjoying the idea of shocking Alex awake "well let's go and put your little fantasy into reality shall we?"

Both girls jumped out of their beds giggling.

Alex let out a decidedly female shriek when he awoke to find two mischievous imps jumping on him.

"What the hell...Ria? Isabel? His shocked gaze fell on both girls as his sleep befuddled mind tried to figure out what was happening. "Why you..you..."

Both girls flopped down on to the bed all the while smiling innocently at Alex. It seemed that Maria's plan had worked remarkable well because Alex continued to lie flat on his back taking in deep gulps of air, his eyes as big as saucers as his mind began to wake up.

Maria looked around the room, on the bedside table were two photo's, one of Isabel and her parents and another one of Liz, she idly fingered the bedspread imagining her brother whom she'd never met sleeping here, doing his homework over at the desk, even daydreaming about his girlfriend Elizabeth Parker.

Alex glared at both woman in mock anger and demanded, "well after that rude awakening I think I deserve breakfast in bed!" His voice was petulant as he sat himself up in bed, completely awake.

"Considering how you squealed when we woke you I'd suggest you go and cook us breakfast, unless that is, you want us to divulge that embarrassing information?" Blackmailed Isabel, an impish grin lighting up her face.

Alex's face contracted in shock, not sure if Isabel was being serious or not "you wouldn't?...Would you?"

He could just imagine the field day Michael would have with this type of information.

Isabel burst out laughing at the horrified expression on Alex's face, "c'mon screechy, I'm sure there's already a table full of food in the kitchen.

Michael opened his eyes and tried stretching, until his feet hit a barrier and he realized he wasn't in his bed but on the Parkers living room sofa instead. He got up and walked through to the kitchen hoping to find something to feed his growling stomach. Liz and her mother were already there drinking coffee.

Liz looked up at his entrance and smiled "morning sleepyhead."

"Morning."

Liz watched as he continued standing self consciously, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sleep well?" Questioned Mrs Parker.

"Uh yeah, thanks."

"Care for some breakfast?"

Michael brightened at the mention of food. Mrs. Parker went to the oven and got the already made up plate of eggs and bacon and handed it to Michael, who by now had already seated himself at the table.

Mrs Parker sat herself down next to Liz "I can't tell you what a pleasant surprise it was to see you arrive on our doorstep last night. Although I have to tell you, we were a little concerned because NYU doesn't break up for another few weeks."

Michael looked up from his food and arched his eyebrows in a questioning manner at Liz. Ignoring his gaze she prepared herself to tell her mother another lie, something that had become all too common over the past couple of years.

"I received a research grant through my professor, so I've taken a couple of months off as I collect specimens from the desert for our studies. It's a good opportunity and will count towards my graduation."

Mrs Parker looked both relieved and pleased "Liz that's wonderful, your professor must have so much faith in you to nominate you for something so prestigious. I'm so proud of you honey!"

Liz could feel the guilt eating away at her as her mother got up from her seat to give her a congratulatory hug.

Her parents had no idea that she had dropped out of university when it had gotten in her way of finding Max, and there was no way that she would ever be able to explain it to them, so she had led them to believe that she was still in school.

Mrs Parker was still confused as to the reason that Michael had returned with her daughter, she was impatient to find out the reason but knew that she would have to wait for a moment alone with Liz before she could question her on it.

She hoped that it was a sign that her daughter was over the infatuation she had for the Evans boy.

She had no doubt that Max had meant a lot to her daughter, but the boy had been gone for three years, it was long since time for Liz to move on and begin living her life.

She'd spent many a night rocking her inconsolable daughter to sleep, cursing the young man for running away from his loved ones and causing so much pain, he didn't deserve his daughter's love.

Liz claimed to love him more than anything, something Nancy found very disturbing because Liz was too young to know what love was, and yet she still remained adamant that she loved Max and was waiting for his return.

Many a time she'd considered getting professional help for her distraught daughter, but now she hoped that Elizabeth had finally come to her senses and realized that it had been a crush, one that had, had disastrous results on her life, it was a part of her life that needed to be put behind her so that she could begin her life anew. And maybe that was finally happening.

LATER THAT DAY AT THE EVANS RESIDENCE

Everyone was seated in the Evans living room listening as Cade worked out their plan for the next couple of weeks.

"Right, so we're going to split into two groups, the first group will be the Field Team; the second will be the Research team. Now Mr. Evans will lead up the research team with the help of Liz and Alex. I'm the only one here with experience with fighting the law and the Gua so if it's all right with everyone I will lead up the field team, which will include Jim Valenti, Isabel, Michael and Maria."

Michael remained silent, he was still unsure about the Sheriff's and Cade's participation, especially as both seemed intent on trying to take over leadership of their little investigative group.

Michael didn't believe that they were needed; after all, they'd managed okay on their own for many years.

The only thing that kept him from throwing either of them out of the house was because he didn't want to take the chance that they would be of some assistance in finding Max.

Once everyone had agreed, Cade led the field team out the door to begin their training in the desert - that being the only secluded spot in the area. The research team were going to head up their operations at the Evans house.

RESEARCH TEAM

Alex immediately went about setting up his laptop, once that was done he started making sure that his connection to the World Wide Web would be untraceable. While he was doing this Mr. Evans and Liz started researching all the possible places Max could be.

"You guy's mentioned before that you thought Max was being held at a place called the Eagle Rock Military Base?" Asked Alex as he continued to set up the equipment he'd brought with, along with the equipment that Mr Evans had.

Liz nodded in agreement "Yeah, that place is still top of my list...why?"

"Well if our very own SWAT team go there they can't very well go in guns blazing, figuratively speaking of course…"

Liz grinned "of course."

"Anyway they're gonna need a layout of the place as well as an idea of the security and stuff."

"Good thinking." Acknowledged Liz.

"See if you can also get an idea of where in the building they could possibly be holding Max" added Phillip.

Alex grinned "no problem!"

"Meanwhile, Liz and I can investigate all other avenues, we definitely don't want to be breaking into the wrong base."

Liz sat down at the dinning-room table and pulled out all her papers on possible places Max could be from her briefcase.

"This is all we have, everything that's not on this list are places that we've already eliminated, and everything else is still a possibility. But, as I mentioned before, Eagle Rock is the most probable place, it makes sense in terms of location, secrecy and reports done by UFO Investigators."

Sitting down beside her, Phillip began paging through the documents, letting his legal mind take over as he settled down to research.

FIELD TEAM

The five stood facing each other in a circle

Cade addressed the group "First, we need to get an idea of what you are each capable of, Isabel you first."

"My strongest power is dreamwalking, other than that, I can change the molecular structure of stuff. I can move things with my mind, unlock doors, alarm systems, that sort of thing."

"Michael?"

"I can do most of what Isabel said, just not very well and I can't dreamwalk, mostly I can move stuff like Izzy, the thing I do the best though is shooting off bolts of power...like intense bursts of energy…I'm not sure how to explain it, or exactly how much damage it's capable of, I just know that if my emotions are intense, so is the power."

Cade nodded "That's because your powers are fuelled by your emotions. It's both your strength and your weakness, and it's important that you are all aware of it, so that you can control it. What about you Maria?"

"I..uh, well I don't really know I've never really tried, but I've done the door-unlocking thing and uh what did you call it..changing the molecular structure of things? I can do that too and I can also move things with my mind. Or more correctly – I have done all of those things, when I was a kid…nothing since."

Cade pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket "Okay, most of what you've described is what the quatrains say about you, although you've left out a few of the major powers, like Mindwarping, Mindscanning, teleportation…"

The three aliens eyed Cade in confusion.

"So you can't do any of those things?"

"We don't even know what any of those things are," answered Isabel.

Cade scratched his head in thought as he took in the new turn of events, he had believed that they at least possessed a limited ability of everything mentioned in the quatrains and that all that was required was progressing that ability.

"From what we've made out, the Visioner's main strength is the mind, hence Isabel's ability to dreamwalk and receive visions, included in this is the ability to Mindwarp, which is similar to dreamwalking – in the dream plane Isabel has the ability to influence the dreamers thoughts and dreams, she can even change the whole dreamscape, a Mindwarp works the same, but on people who are awake, for instance, she could make us believe that we were seeing Goddzilla skipping through the desert and it would be so real that we would not doubt it."

Everyone looked at Isabel in awe.

"That's a nifty trick Izzy" remarked Maria.

"But I can't….I mean I've never even influenced peoples dreams, how am I going to do it whilst they're awake?"

Cade smiled "Practice" before continuing "the Warriors, on the other hand, find their strength in protection, this is why Michaels strongest power is the energy blast, he would use this to protect his King. In addition to this, the Warriors are able to teleport, it's a means of getting to the King quickly to protect him, it assists them when fighting their enemies, can you imagine the advantage of disappearing when a bullet is headed towards you only to appear behind the enemy and take him out? It makes sense that this would be one of your powers, especially as it is a form of molecular manipulation, which also means that the rest of you may be able to develop this power to a small degree."

Cade paused as they all took in the information "The King has the job of protecting his people and his planet, that's why Max has been engineered with an essence the prevents the planet that he is inhabiting from being destroyed, it's almost like the ability to put up a shield around the planet – basically a larger version of the shield he can hold up around himself. This is also why Max is the healer, because he is responsible for all of you, keeping all of this in mind, it explains why he has the ability to Mindscan, in other words weed out the bad seed from the good seed. He has the ability to get into people's minds and see their thoughts, know their intentions and use the information to protect his people."

Cade watched the groups reactions to his explanation, he noted that they were both nervous and excited by the prospect of these powers.

Clapping his hands together to get their attention, he said, "Okay then lets get to work; we've got lots of it to do. Michael I want you and Maria to work closely together, it stands to reason that your powers will be somewhat similar, so I want you two to work on advancing Maria's powers in the next two hours. Jim and I will work with Isabel."  
--

Maria stood nervously with Michael a few feet from the others, she wasn't sure she liked working alone with him. He made her nervous and jumpy, which in turn got her irritated and grumpy. There was no way they would be able to work together if emotions really were the trigger to their powers. Because when Michael was around it felt like her emotions fluctuated like a bouncing ball.

Then there was the fact that she was still getting used to being an alien princess no less…with warrior like powers.

It was too unreal.

Michael broke her out of her thoughts "lets do the easy stuff first."

He found it ironic that he was teaching someone else to advance their powers, when in the past it has always been him that needed the help.

He changed his shirt color from white to black "now you change it back."

Maria concentrated and waved her hand over Michaels shirt, successfully changing it back to the original color "that was easy." She grinned, pleased with the accomplishment.

"You'll probably find that most of this will be easy 'cos you already have the ability, you just need to learn how to do it properly." Now he was sounding suspiciously like Cade, which was freaking him out to no end.

"Lets try something else" she clapped her hands in excitement, causing Michael to show a hint of a smile at her enthusiasm. Which in Michael terms meant he was also enjoying the moment.

"Okay then, try shooting a burst of energy at that tree" he pointed in the distance at a tree that was obviously dead, probably from a lightning bolt during a recent storm.

Maria looked dubiously at the tree, she wasn't sure if this was something she could do, and she wasn't sure it was something that she ever wanted to do because it meant that she would have to hurt someone and it was not a situation she ever wanted to be in "I don't know Michael."

"There's no harm in at least trying."

Maria squinted at the tree and held her palm out, her brows furrowed in concentration. At first it felt like nothing was happening, but before she could say anything she felt her senses begin to tingle, it was like a crackling energy felt during electrical storms, Maria closed her eyes as she felt the energy build up to a crescendo.

Michael and Maria were both thrown to the ground by the force of her energy blast.

"Ahh…" moaned Michael as he rolled on to his back feeling the pain from his hard landing.

In the distance, Isabel, Jim and Cade all threw themselves to the desert floor when the tree exploded.

"What the hell was that?" screamed Isabel in a panic, unsure of what was happening. She kept her head down as she hugged the desert floor.

Cade remained on the ground, but looked around for any sign of danger, with very little movement he was able to unclip his weapon from it's concealed holster. Gripping it firmly in the palm of his hand he continued to scan the surrounding areas, noting with a sense of satisfaction that Maria and Michael had also thrown themselves to the ground when the explosion went off.

Sheriff Valenti climbed to his feet, his weapon drawn, the safety off and a bullet already in the chamber, he was leaving nothing to chance.

Cade crept over to Isabel and told her to stay down, his eyes then fell on Michael and Maria in the distance picking themselves off the ground "STAY DOWN!" he shouted, wondering if they were extremely brave or extremely stupid.

Michael stood up and stared at the spectacle going on around him, at first he found himself confused at the scene, wandering why everyone was crawling around on the ground with the Sheriff pointing his gun all over the place.

Michael continued to stare in bewilderment until he realised the cause of the strange behavior, shaking his head at their antics he called out "relax, it was just us!"

Isabel stood up, dusting sand off herself and seething in anger with Michael for causing the false alarm that had sent her sprawling to the dirty ground. It was bad enough that she had just endured the humiliation of literally eating dirt, but to find out it was because of Michael's stupidity was just beyond her capabilities of thinking rationally. Michael had to pay!

The Sheriff holstered his weapon the whole while eyeing Cade as he returned his own weapon to it's concealed place, Valenti made a point to himself to keep an eye on Foster, after all, how much did any of them know about this stranger who claimed to have all the answers for the alien hybrids.

Valenti had come to realise over the past couple of days that these kids were just that, kids. Admittedly they were alien royal kids, but they were kids all the same. Struggling to fit in and lead a normal life.

They had, had to face many terrible situations in their short life span and he'd found himself looking upon them as people he had to protect, because they had very little protection in this world and he did not want to be one of the many things that just added to the terrible burden they all already carried.

He'd found his purpose; it was to look after them, which meant he had to watch out for Cade Foster and his fantastical stories.

Jim briefly wondered at his radical change of view, it was surprising how quickly he'd come to look on them as innocents who had been thrown into a difficult position. They were not to be feared, as he had previously thought, and they were not the reason for his father's actions and eventual insanity.

Isabel's eyes bored into Michael's as she placed her hands on her hips "Michael you idiot! What were you thinking?"

Michael glared at Isabel, then turned around and glared at Maria who was behind him and still somewhat dazed.

"You can't go around blasting everything into oblivion and putting the rest of us in danger…"

"Hey, don't get angry with me cause you got yourself a little dirty."

"Are you insane? You could've missed your target and blasted one of us."

"Not possible!"

"What? You have perfect aim?"

"No, actually, I was aiming for you" he smirked.

Isabel could feel the anger rising at his quips and deliberate attempt to avoid apologising for his stupidity.

Maria chose to speak up during the brief break in the argument before it got completely out of hand "Uh actually Isabel, I'm going to have to take responsibility for that" she raised her hand, a sheepish grin on her face.

Isabel who looked suitably shocked said nothing.

"Either of you care to explain what just happened here?" Demanded Valenti, also feeling irritated now that he knew they were in no immediate danger.

"It was nothing, Maria was just testing her powers, so now that the show is over lets get back to work shall we?"

His look dared the Sheriff to say something, but to his disappointment the Sheriff kept his thoughts to himself.

Michael sat on the rocky earth deciding it was safer, less further to fall and all. Maria sat down next to him.

"Okay, lets try some other stuff" he suggested.


	7. Dream Team

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Seven – The Dream Team**

Summary: Isabel attempts once again to dreamwalk Max  
Disclaimer: See Chapter One

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be…It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for."

- Erica Jong

The day had been long and tiring, leaving the five 'Field Team' members feeling exhausted and ready for a relaxing evening.

As they were climbing into Valenti's SUV, Cade voiced a question that had been bugging him the entire day. "This dreamwalking ability of yours...I'm curious, why haven't you used it to try and contact your brother?"

Isabel paused in her task of climbing into the vehicle and looked at Cade "I tried, we think that they are keeping him drugged to suppress his powers and because of that I was getting blocked."

Cade considered this before replying, "That's a good theory, and another one might be that they are using depleted uranium for the building structure. I'm aware of a few agencies that use this because it is the one earth material that to date aliens have been unable to manipulate. Granted, this may only be for certain aliens, but it could explain why you've been unable to communicate with your brother. Either way, from what I've deciphered from the prophesies, when you guy's are all joined your powers are remarkably strong, that's why you were sent together, and if one of you gets lost, like Max, it puts the rest of you at risk – you need each other for your survival. I have a feeling that if you joined your powers you would probably be able to connect with Max.

Isabel objected "but we're not all together."

"Three is still stronger than one." Replied Cade as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Isabel could feel her hopes rising. Maybe, just maybe this would work.

THAT EVENING

That evening found the group of friends sitting around the Evans living room eating pizza and discussing the days events, including the decision that Isabel and Cade had come to concerning a new attempt to make contact with Max.

Although Isabel was still doubtful, she could feel the excitement growing as they counted down the minutes until 11pm, the agreed upon time to do the dreamwalk. Although Isabel's powers had progressed enough that she could now dreamwalk a person who was awake, they didn't want to risk the large amounts of energy that would be required, as it was, the energy they were going to use would be enormous. For this reason they had agreed that it would be best if Max were asleep when they made their attempt.

Liz was naturally excited and couldn't wait for them to try it, Mr. Evans was hopeful, so was Maria. Michael and Alex were doubtful, but at least, thought Isabel, Michael was willing to try.

Liz put down her half eaten slice of pizza, she was too nervous to eat and by the look of how much pizza was remaining so was everyone else. Instead, she chose to watch those around her as she waited for the minutes to tick by. She watched as Alex placed his hand over Isabel's offering her comfort, Liz smiled, maybe Isabel had finally found someone who would care for her, for the real her and not just the outer beauty that everyone saw her as.

Alex seemed different, he seemed to genuinely care about the real Isabel, and Liz hoped that Isabel was aware of that, and that she'd give the young man a chance to prove it.

Averting her gaze from the private moment, she watched as Michael paced nervously waiting for the agreed time in which they would attempt the dreamwalking. He had spent the past fifteen minutes pacing the room and looking at the clock, something Liz had noticed he always did when he was nervous or upset.

Maria was the only person who appeared to be calm, she was sitting cross-legged on the floor doing yoga or something similar, her eyes were closed and she was taking deep even breaths, she had a candle in front of her burning some aromatherapy oils. When Liz had asked her about it earlier she said that it helped keep her calm, Liz contemplated trying it herself, she dearly wished that she had something to calm her fraying nerves. Maybe Michael could do with it too she thought to herself as she watched him give Maria another odd look.

He'd spent the entire evening in-between his pacing and clock-glaring to give Maria looks that suggested she were mad. Maria seemed either unaware or uncaring of his rude stares, instead she continued to hum softly.

If Liz hadn't been so wound up she would have found the entire scene highly amusing. But as it was, she barely contemplated the looks Michael was throwing in Maria's direction, at this moment in her life it was her least concern, because tonight they were going to try and contact her soul mate.

Mr. Evans and Cade were the only ones doing something productive, they were crouched over a book trying to decipher more of the destiny stuff Nostradamus had predicted. Mr. Evans' brow was furrowed as Cade pointed something out.

The only person missing was the Sheriff who had left earlier to pick up Kyle who was home on college break. He had been obviously disappointed that he could not be around for the dreamwalking attempt.

Liz looked up at the clock and saw that the time had arrived; her eyes met Isabel's who gave her a weak smile. Everyone gathered in the living room, Michael and Maria moved to sit beside Isabel, everyone else made themselves comfortable around the alien trio.

Taking in a deep breath, Isabel reached out a hand to Michael on her left and Maria on her right.

As one, all three closed their eyes as Isabel began to form a connection.

Isabel's eyes fluttered as her mind began wandered the dreamscape searching for her brother, with the strengthening of her powers, she no longer needed a picture to form a connection, instead, she used her love for her brother as the link between their subconscious's.

Instantly they were transported into Max's subconscious, they found themselves in a stark white room.

Isabel looked around immediately spotting a figure crouched in a corner whispering unintelligible words to himself.

Slowly the trio made their way over to the figure, as they got closer, the figure in the corner seemed to come alive as it looked up to them, splitting the silence with an ear-piercing scream.

Isabel jumped back still holding on to Michael and Maria's hands as her face formed a horrified expression "Max?" Her voice broke, tearing her hands away from Michael and Maria she moved slowly towards Max, before she got close enough he abruptly jumped up, shoving her away in the process.

The figure that looked like Max circled the three dream-crashers, his faced contorted into a mask of fear "Stay back! All of you. Stay back!" He threatened, waving his hands in front of them as if it would keep them away.

Isabel looked beseechingly at Max "Max please…" she begged, holding out a trembling hand for Max to take. "Max, we're here to help you, tell us where they're keeping you."

Max clutched at his head as "No. No. You can't fool me. I know that you are dead." His eyes were wide and out of focus as he moved around the room "can't fool me" he sang as he broke into giggles, he did a little dance around the room repeating the same words over and over.

"Can't fool me."

"Dead. Dead. Dead. DEAD!"

With his hands, he repeatedly hit his head, trying to knock away the image of his dead sister and friend.

"Dead!" He repeated.

Looking up to see if the ghosts of his past had disappeared, his eyes fell on Maria as he noticed her for the first time.

Within seconds he raced to her side and grabbed her head in his hands.

Michael moved to stop Max but was stopped instead by Isabel when she grabbed his arm. "He won't hurt her Michael!" She said with a surety in her voice that she did not feel. She so badly wanted to believe that Max, her Max was in there somewhere, because she knew with all of her heart that her Max would not harm Maria. But what if she was grossly mistaken?

"We don't know that, look at him, that's not Max" bit out Michael, pointing at Max who still had a terrified Maria's head gripped in his hands.

"You! I know you, you're one of them" shouted Max, his face inches away from Maria's tearful one.

"Who Max? One of whom?" Asked Isabel gently, as she slowly approached her brother.

Max looked at Isabel, pain clouding his features and for a brief second Isabel was sure she saw 'her' Max. Max pushed Maria away, straight into Michael's arms.

Michael wrapped his arms around her stroking her head and trying to calm her shakes.

The connection broke and they found themselves back in the Evans living room. Isabel immediately broke into sobs and ran into her father's arms.

Michael sat dazed on the sofa clutching Maria to his chest.

Liz ran over and grabbed Michael by his shoulders, desperately trying to shake him out of his stupor. "What happened Michael? Tell me!" She demanded, fear etched into her face, she looked from Michaels haunted expression to Maria's tear streaked face and back again.

Mr. Evans who was still holding a sobbing Isabel looked helplessly at Liz. Liz turned slowly in a circle, looking for help from her friends and yet finding only dejection in their eyes. Mr. Evans sat Isabel down gently. "Izzy sweetie, it's important, tell us what happened" he coaxed, not sure if he wanted to know anymore, not after seeing the look of horror on his daughters face.

Isabel wiped the tears from her face and looked up into the concerned eyes of her father "It was horrible, he wasn't Max, I mean he was but he wasn't."

She looked at her father who nodded for her to continue, Isabel went on to explain the state that they'd found her brother in.

"He thinks that we're all dead, he seemed so confused, scared and alone, he looked like he was slowly loosing his mind...maybe he already has...I don't know, I just don't know." Isabel covered her face with her hands, her body shuddering from the sobs.

Liz's face went deathly pale, she felt nauseous and faint all at once.

"Did he tell you where he was being kept?" Asked Cade.

Michael who by now had come out of his stupor shook his head "the state of mind he was in, I don't think he even knew."

Cade persisted "what about markings on his clothes, or something in the room that could give us a clue?"

"The room was bare, and I wasn't exactly looking at his clothes" answered Isabel, becoming irritated at the persistent questioning, even though she knew that Cade was only trying to help. She couldn't help feeling that his manner was uncaring, and unsympathetic to the trauma they had just experienced, and had experienced for the past three years.

Maria's eyes widened as she sat up sharply from her place next to Michael "wait! When he was holding me I saw these initials on his breast pocket, it was E.R. or something I think" she said excitedly.

"Eagle Rock Military Base?" Suggested Alex.

Everyone's eyes lit up at this piece of information.

"I mean, that's what we already thought" continued Alex "this just proves it."

"Unless it stands for Emergency Room."

Everyone stared at Michael.

"What?" He demanded "it's a possibility that we have to accept."

"No" said Liz.

Sending her a sympathetic look, Maria began "Liz, maybe…"

Liz interrupted "No…Alex is right, it's the Eagle Rock Base, I know it, besides, what hospital do you know of that initials its hospitals gowns with E.R on it?"

Mr. Evans smiled "If Liz is right, then we'd better get to work, we have a rescue plan to form."

"I know I'm right!" Insisted Liz.


	8. When a Plan Comes Together

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Eight – When A Plan Comes Together**

Summary: Preparations to save Max begin in earnest.  
Disclaimer: See Chapter One

"One day at a time- this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering."

- Ida Scott Taylor

The next few days Maria threw herself into perfecting her powers with Michaels help, in return she continued to train them in all the martial arts she knew.

For a short while, she forgot that she was still freaked out by all the alien business. It had been less than a week since she found out that she was a real life alien, and already she was planning on breaking into a Government Installation.

Stranger still was the fact that she was not scared of being caught committing a felony, because jail time was the least of her worries if she got caught, no, she was scared that she would be captured, because they would not treat her like a human being, they would treat her like an experiment. Something to be prodded, poked and dissected.

She no longer belonged to the human race, in the space of a few short days she had become an outsider, something to be feared and experimented on – exactly what they were doing to her brother this very minute, and that was why she had to forget about her past, forget about when she was a normal human girl and instead focus on her future, focus on her brother who was being tortured just for being different. She was different too, and she had to stand up against those who would exploit their differences, she had to fight back for her right to live, for her brother's right to live and her sister and her friends.

She would be damned if ignorance and stupidity would take that very right of existence away from her and her family.

It was funny how much your life could change in the span of a week.

Along with Isabel's power of visions she was also equipped with the knowledge of not only their home planet language, but also that of the language that Nostradamus had used, so she spent her time when not training working with Cade on the quatrains.

She didn't read the words written, not like you would read a novel, it was more like the knowledge just came to her.

Isabel began to believe that the knowledge came from her alien side, as if half of her knew the words and translated it for her other half. It was the only explanation she could think of, otherwise how else would she recognize the words printed on the ancient paper in front of her?

Liz, Alex and Mr. Evans had been working on the plans of the Base, trying to find a way for the alien trio to get in and out safely. Alex laid the building blue prints on a table marking the security check points in red and circling the Medical Research area he suspected Max was most likely being held in.

Liz paged through papers that described the security in detail, Making notes in the margins of things the alien trio needed to be aware of.

For the night of the rescue attempt they had rented a van so that it would be possible for them all to fit in. Using his powers, Michael had forged false documents for the rental company, to ensure that the vehicle could not be traced back to them.

Even so, they were all acutely aware of the fact that the people holding Max would no doubt trace his rescue back to them, and they were all prepared for that event. Prepared to defend themselves if it came to it, whatever it took, they would handle it together.

Alex had his computer set up in the van, he had also managed to hack into the Eagle Rock computer system without leaving a trace of his presence, which was not as difficult as it sounded, especially if you'd spent most of your dating years at home, bored, with nothing but a computer.

At least his sad lack of a love life had come in handy, he told himself.

However, skill or no skill, he was still restricted to the outdoor and hallway security camera's as he had been unable to hack into the system that the camera's in the rooms were on, probably because they were on a higher security level due to the sensitive nature of their experiments, whereas the outdoor and hallway camera's were essential for the security personal to keep tabs on the actual security of the building.

Alex suspected that the recordings made from the camera's in the rooms were kept highly confidential, and not even the security personal were aware of them.

Whatever the reason for the two different security systems, the fact remained that they could only gain access to the one, so he would only be able help Isabel, Michael and Maria when they were outside or in the hallways, once they got into the rooms, they would be on their own.

The trip to the base was made in silence, everyone deep in his or her own thoughts. No one wanted to voice their fears that maybe they had the wrong base, or that even if they had the right place they would fail and Max would be lost to them forever.

So, instead, they remained silent, putting on false looks of confidence, re-assuring themselves through wishful hopes, ignoring the parts of them that whispered they would fail.

Failure was not an option.

The day before the rescue Alex had gone shopping.

Shopping for his favourite kind of toys, the hi-tech kind, which was what he was dishing out to everyone now.

He handed everyone a headset consisting of earphones and a microphone so that they could all keep in contact and if he saw any impending danger on the camera's he could warn them. The only person not equipped with a headset was Mr. Evans; he instead was equipped with earphones that connected to the Bases radio frequency so he could listen in on all their radio conversations, specifically those ones that might endanger his children and their friends. The

Sheriff stopped the van behind a rock outcropping near the fence to the Base; Michael with the help of Maria was still adjusting his headset whilst Alex was helping Isabel with hers.

Alex addressed the group "listen up guys, I'm going to give you a warning before you reach each camera. You'll have to stop for a couple of seconds whilst I disrupt the camera feed to keep Security from seeing you.

I on the other hand will still see you, wait for me to give you the word at each camera before you continue."

Alex paused briefly, he was having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he was sending his sister into an installation that was actively looking for aliens.

For that matter, it was hard to believe that any of them were going in. They were all still kids. This wasn't something that any of them should ever have had to face.

Looking at his sisters determined face, he knew that there would be no talking her out of it. Maria was highly protective of the people she cared for, and there was no way she would back out of this fight.

Alex understood. He would do it for her, in a heartbeat. So he continued with the instructions that would guide them safely into the building. "Liz will be ready to give you step by step instructions on what you will be up against at each security check point. Mr. Foster and the Sheriff will be patrolling the perimeter of the Base to warn us of any impending danger, if they give the word get your asses outta there. Mr. Evans will be listening in on their radios so we'll know if they spot you."

The trio nodded, a mixture of both fear and excitement in their eyes. Alex pulled Maria into a hug, telling Michael to watch over them, Liz in turn also hugged them, wishing them Godspeed and the protection of his angels.

"Bring him back you guys" begged Liz.

Isabel nodded "you bet."

Cade opened the van door and slipped out, the Sheriff followed him after wishing them all good luck.

Michael, Isabel and Maria then climbed out, closing the door behind them, Alex turned back to his computer getting to work, deftly placing his headset on. Liz placed hers on too; the security plan lay out neatly before her.

Alex took a breath before speaking into his microphone "Base team checking in, do you read me?"

"Rescue team checking in, we read you loud and clear. We are now at the fence about to make our opening." Came Michaels voice over the earpiece.

Michael held his hand out to the fence using his powers to make a hole in it that the three could climb through, which they did, being careful not to touch the fence because it was electrified.

The Sheriff's voice then came through the earpieces "Patrol team checking in, we read you five by five, over."

Alex shook his head at the formality of the Sheriff's 'check in' "Ah Roger that, over" he said in a falsely official voice to Liz, giving her the giggles.

Michael led Maria and Isabel towards the emergency exit door that Liz had advised would be the easiest, the only problem was that it was an emergency exit and therefore would sound an alarm when opened.

Fortunately very little light illuminated the grounds, cloud cover hid the moon and very few lights were spread along the grounds, affording them enough cover to make their way to the door unnoticed.

Crouching near the door, Maria and Michael scanned the area around them as Isabel worked her magic on the door.

Within seconds she had de-activated the alarm and unlatched the door, before opening it however, Michael asked for the 'go-ahead' from Alex.

"You're clear" announced Alex.

Michael led the girls inside the base. "Okay we're in, where's the first camera?"

"Above you, don't worry, I've already disabled it, all they're seeing now is the last five minutes of recording, so don't take too long. Make your way to the end of the hall and turn left." Alex watched on his monitor as they made their way down the hallway.

Liz spoke up then "guy's, before you reach the corner you'll have to stop and deactivate a motion sensor."

"Where is it located?" Asked Isabel.

"Look to your right, you'll see a small black object attached to the wall near the floor."

"'Kay, I see it, what now?"

"Okay, whatever you do don't move in front of it because when it picks up movement it scans you for an identifier, which is something that all of the personal wear to identify them as staff. If it doesn't pick up the identifier on you an alarm will go off, so you need to de-activate it within seconds of moving in front of it."

"Can't we just step over it, like in the movies?" Asked Michael.

"Not unless you de-activate it at the same time."

"Easy enough" said Isabel, she concentrated her powers using her mind to locate its power source and temporarily disrupt it so that they could move past without it searching for an identifier. "Okay guy's move, I don't know how long that will hold for."

The alien trio turned left down the hallway, after receiving the 'all clear' from Alex.

Continuing down the hallway, Isabel began to feel strange, turning her head from side to side as if searching for something she said, "I can feel Max, he's close."

"How?" Asked Maria, also looking around.

Isabel shook her head "I would've said sisterly intuition, but actually I think it's got something to do with my powers."

"Or it could be indigestion from the curly fries you had for lunch" suggested Michael with a smirk before continuing along the hallway.

---

Cade and the Sheriff were walking along the perimeter of the fence being careful to keep to the shadows and at the same time listening in to what was happening with the pod squad. It had been fifteen minutes since they began their sweep of the surroundings and they had yet to complete their circuit of the perimeter due to the sheer largeness of it.

Cade stopped Valenti with a hand to his shoulder; his head cocked listening into the sounds of the desert around them.

Cocking his head in imitation the Sheriff asked, "What...?"

Before he could finish, they were both knocked to the ground by an unseen force. Before Cade could finish falling, he was back on his feet extending his leg in a forceful kick at his opponent, the man dodged the kick and reciprocated by sweeping a leg low on the ground and tripping Cade who then fell to the ground.

"Stop right there!" Demanded Sheriff Valenti having had the opportunity to climb to his feet and draw his weapon.

The man froze when he saw the gun pointed at him. "You don't know what you are dealing with" growled the man.

Climbing to his feet Cade smiled "maybe not, but I do."

Recognition dawned on the unknown mans face "You cannot stop us Foster, we will kill them and we will bring about the Second Wave."

By this point Cade had also drawn his weapon and had it pointed at his adversary "Yeah well you can try, but don't count on it. They're more powerful and resourceful than you realise. Besides, haven't you ever watched a movie? The good guys always win."

Cade pulled the trigger, sending the bullet straight into the Gua's heart, assuming they even had one.

The Gua's body burst into dust.

Holstering his weapon, Cade noticed the look of shock and confusion on the Sheriffs face and hastened to explain. "He's still technically alive, just not on this planet anymore, and he can't ever come back. What I just shot was the human shell of him, because their real form can't survive here or something like that…" Cade paused in thought a moment "at least I think that's how it works…I mean, there's no telling what you're dealing with when you're dealing with Aliens."

"I…uh…"

"Yeah I felt the same way when I first saw it. But my question now is how did they know the Royals were here, and how many more of them are here?"

Shaking himself out of his stupor the Sheriff nodded, "We'd better warn everyone." He bent down and picked up his fallen Stetson on the ground, dusting it off before placing it back on his head.

"Base team, Rescue team, we have a situation here, it would seem there are Gua in the vicinity" said Cade, speaking into his headset.

Over the microphone, the first voice to be heard was Michaels "damn, that's all we need."

"How many?" Asked Alex.

"One, so far" answered Cade "but if he's here, then there's sure to be others, especially since they know that the Royals are here."

"Okay guy's you heard him, be on the look out" warned Liz.

---

Inside the building the trio had stopped their search as they took in the latest news.

"You guys watch your backs too" said Michael, speaking into the microphone.

"Okay people, that door on your right leads to the medical wing where we think Max is" said Alex, getting back to the business at hand. "The camera signal has been interrupted, you can go ahead."

Michael eased the door open and they all slipped inside to the new hallway.

Back in the van Phillip spoke up "Liz, tell them an agent is on his way, he's doing a security sweep of the floor.

Liz relayed the message to the rescue team.

Isabel looked wildly about trying to find a place they could all hide.

"Stay down, I'll handle this" ordered Michael as he made his way back the way they had come.

The girls flattened themselves to the wall just as someone turned the corner, the agent stopped as he noticed the intruders, shocked to find them standing there.

Michael took the opportunity and raised his palm, a burst of energy shot from it and knocked the agent down.

The three aliens ran over to him and checked for a pulse, Michael breathed a sigh of relief when he found one.

Crouching over him Isabel whispered "what now?"

Before anyone could reply a burst of static was heard over a radio attached to the Agents belt "Nichols, what's your status, over?"

The three looked at each other in fear, fearing that they were only moments away from being caught.

Michael remembered Cade's speech about the magnitude of their powers and thinking quickly place his glowing hand on the agents neck where he knew the voice box was located, he then placed his hand over his own voice box, changing it to that of the agents. Michael then picked up the radio "Situation is normal, I'll complete my sweep and be back in twenty, over."

The three aliens held their breath as they waited for the reply, certain that the other Agents would not fall for their ruse and begin a base lockdown.

To their relief the agent on the other end said okay and signed off.

Back in the van Mr. Evans heard all of this whilst Liz and Alex watched over the monitor.

"Michael, see if you can use the same trick to get his fingerprints, you may need it if you go into one of the high restriction rooms because they require fingerprint verification to access." Said Liz.

"And what was our plan if I didn't get a fingerprint" demanded Michael, angry that it had been overlooked.

"We had no idea you were capable of that, so it wasn't even taken into consideration. Basically, the plan was to blow open the door and get the hell out of there…the new plan is better though." Replied Alex.

Michael changed his voice back, then placed his hand near the agent's hand, slowly it started to glow again.

"What's happening?" Asked Alex, concerned that they were taking too long to complete their mission.

"Well it looks like Michael has the prints we need to get through the checkpoint" replied Maria, giving Michael a smile of approval.

As was his custom, Michael didn't know how to deal with the show of appreciation, so instead, he turned their attention back to the task at hand "let's go!"

"Where to?" Asked Maria as she took in all the doorways in the Medical Research Wing "there are too many rooms for us to check."

Isabel closed her eyes and concentrated on the essence that was her brother, his aura had always been strong, so using her powers she tried to trace it, almost like heat signatures could be traced with the right equipment.

In this case, her powers were the only high tech equipment that she needed, so focusing her mind on her brother she then opened her eyes again and looked around.

The hallway shimmered, as if in a dream. Before her stood the hazy reflections of Michael and Maria and although they spoke, it sounded too far away to hear clearly.

Her eyes swept the hallway until a faint trail materialised before her, golden in color, it seemed strongest near one door in particular.

Blinking, Isabel's vision returned to normal and she pointed towards the doorway that the essence had been strongest "over there."

Without questioning her, the two led the way to the door Isabel had indicated.

"What if there are agents in there?" Whispered Maria.

Michael shrugged "a chance we'll have to take" he moved to place his hand on the scanner.

"Wait" said Isabel, causing Michaels movements to halt "being so close to Max is making me more in tune with him, drugs or no drugs, maybe I can connect and find out what to expect inside?"

Michael studied Isabel's pleading face before making a decision and stepping away from the scanner "all right, just make it fast Izzy, we need to get out of here before someone sees that agent."

Isabel held her hands out to Michael and Maria. She needed the power of all three of them to make the connection, because whatever the Government was using to keep Max's powers at bay was too strong for her to overcome on her own.

There was total silence as Isabel concentrated on forming a connection with Max.

As her mind formed the connection she described what she could see "Max is in there, he's strapped to a gurney, I can't make out what they're doing to him but it looks like some kind of mind control because they're giving him commands. I can't tell what they're saying but it looks like they don't like his answers 'cos they're connecting some sort of electro-therapy machine to him." Isabel choked, finding it hard to speak as her mind took in the horrors of what was being done to Max. "There…there are two men in the room, one looks like a doctor, he's standing next to Max and connecting the electrodes to him. The other one is wearing a suit, probably an Agent."

Isabel opened her eyes and focused them on Michael.

"Okay, here's the plan, I'll take out the guy at the bed, Maria you go for the other guy and Is, you get Max...okay?"


	9. Doodle

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Nine – Doodle**

Summary: Max is found, all they need to do now is get him out whilst evading Government Agents and Evil Aliens  
Disclaimer: See Chapter One

" Stand up wherever you are, go to the nearest window and yell as loud as you can, 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."  
- Howard Beale (Peter Finch) in "Network"

After a brief moment of hesitation, both girls nodded.

Michael placed his hand on the scanner, holding his breath as he waited for it to verify his stolen fingerprint as that of Agent Nichols.

Within seconds, but what felt like hours the scanner accepted the print and the door clicked open. It was now or never.

The three rescuers rushed into the room, hoping that the two unknown people inside would be kept off guard long enough for them to disable them.

Maria reached her opponent first, without pausing she lashed out with an upper cut to the Agent's jaw, following it quickly with a sharp kick to his abdomen.

Gasping as the air was knocked out of his lungs the agent staggered back from the force of the kick. Unfortunately years of training assisted him in recovering quickly and within seconds he recovered his balance and reached for his weapon holstered under his left arm.

Maria also had years of training on her side and reacted quickly to his actions, swinging her leg in a high arc she knocked his weapon out of his hand and then using the ridge of her hand crushed his nose.

With blood spewing and his mind befuddled she grabbed him by his shoulders and kneed him in his gut.

Meanwhile Michael had now reached the doctor or agent who had been leaning over Max, reaching him just as he began to turn away from the bed towards the commotion at the doorway.

Michael elbowed him.

Although the blow was slight, the man was already off balance due to his position over the bed and was sent flying into a tray of medical instruments.

The tray went crashing into the nearby wall, all of its instruments spewing over the floor.

Stunned, the man lay prone on the floor, surrounded by the scattered appliances.

Wanting only to disable him, Michael decided on a new tactic, after all, it seemed as if it was the night for learning new tricks.

Pinning him to the floor, Michael placed his hand over the prone mans head and concentrated on forming a connection, his goal…to trigger the bodies natural sleep mechanism, tricking it into a temporary coma thus giving Michael the opportunity to get Max and get out.

Nothing happened. Michael couldn't even form a connection.

Confused, Michael decided to forgo the new tactic and instead use a controlled burst of his energy power to knock the man unconscious. If he controlled it right it would be similar to using a blunt object to disable a person.

Again nothing happened.

Michael didn't have time to waste "guess I'll have to do it the old fashioned way." He grasped the man's head firmly between his palms and lifted it up off the floor and down again.

This time it worked, the Doctor's body slumped into unconsciousness.

Picking up the fallen 9mm, Maria used the butt to knock the crouched and gasping agent over the head.

The agent collapsed as he fell unconscious.

Maria discarded the weapon and turned around in time to see Michael standing next to the prone form of the second agent, or doctor if the white coat was anything to go by.

In the meantime Isabel had pulled the IV out of Max's arm and was ripping off the last of the attached electrodes. Max was barely conscious and offered little resistance as Michael and Isabel helped him off the bed and half carried half led him out the room.

"Isabel, try using your powers" demanded Michael as they made their way to the door.

"What?"

"Something's wrong with my powers. When I tried using them on the Lab-Coat-Guy it wouldn't work!"

"But your powers have been fine all night?"

"I know, it doesn't make any sense, I used them only seconds ago to open the door."

Gears clicked in Isabel's head as she recalled the conversation held with Cade only days earlier.

"Depleted Uranium!" She exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Cade mentioned that the Government developed it some time ago after they captured aliens from the crash, it prevents us from being able to use our powers…I'm guessing it's only in this room, that's why Max was kept in here and also why you couldn't use your powers."

"Interesting" interrupted Maria "could we chat about this after we break out of this place?"

Michael was surprised to find that he had stopped moving and was still standing in the middle of the laboratory they had just rescued Max from.

"Let's go" he said, beginning to make his way to the door again.

Once out of the room, Michael left Isabel to handle Max alone as he led them out of the building.

--

In the van, Liz and Alex cheered as they saw the trio enter the hallway with Max.

--

Isabel found herself being thankful for Max's half-drugged state, because who knew how he would react when he recognized them. He might believe them to be figments of his imagination as he had when she'd dreamwalked him, and when a person was in that kind of psychosis they could probably become very dangerous even if it wasn't in their nature.

Or maybe he would be okay.

Sure.

Who wouldn't be after three years of torture?

Max was strong though, his spirit was a fighter and once he knew that they had tricked him into believing his loved ones were dead, he would begin to fight back.

Isabel believed strongly that the only reason he was in such a state of psychosis was because they had broken him down, and they had accomplished that by making him believe that he had lost everyone else. They needed to control him and they hadn't been able to do that as long as he continued to protect his sister, friend and girlfriend, because Max's love for them was stronger than any weapon forged by man, nature or alien…

Isabel wanted to rip them apart, piece by little piece for destroying the spirit of her brother, for the pain they had caused through physical torture and for the pain they had caused through mental torture.

Only her anger kept her from collapsing on the ground and sobbing.

She wanted to cry out in absolute joy at being reunited with her brother again, but she also wanted to scream in terror and heart wrenching pain at what he had been put through.

She could barely look at the empty shell her brother had become because when she did she would not be strong enough to get him out of the facility, so instead she put on her Ice Queen façade, freezing her emotions so that she could do the job she had been tasked with.

She would cry when they got home.

She would plot revenge as she half carried her brother out of the building, because plans of a future payback would keep her focused on the task at hand.

--

Maria kept to the rear of the escaping group, her mind and body alert for any danger that might come up behind them whilst Michael protected their front.

As alert as she was, she couldn't help when her eyes were drawn to the figure of Max being supported by Isabel in front of her.

He looked nothing like the boy she'd heard so much about, in fact, she wondered if they were too late, maybe he was dead already, in mind if not in body?

Maybe all that they had rescued was the shell of what once was Max, a boy who had once been a King, who had risked his life to save a girl in a diner. Who had shaped his life around the protection of his friend and sister. The boy who would risk everything for the people he loved.

What if they had been too late to save that boy?

---

Pulling away from the hug she had just given Mr. Evans, Liz sat down in her seat, a grin of pure joy alighting her face as she waited patiently for Max to come back to her.

It didn't matter in what condition, so long as he was back.

Alex continued to watch his monitor to ensure that nothing happened to the four people fleeing the building, although half his attention remained on Liz and her excitement. He couldn't help it, her joy was contagious as she bounced in her seat and beamed at the occupants of the van.

Their celebration was short lived however as the van door was ripped open to show a figure standing in the now open doorway.

"You should not have come here" he said as he began to climb into the van, apparently unconcerned that he was outnumbered three to one.

Being the closest to the door, Liz did not hesitate as she stood up and kicked the intruder in the chest in one fluid motion.

The man stumbled out of the doorway allowing Liz a few moments to slide it shut, flicking the lock on as she did so.

"Somehow I don't think you were invited either!"

In the meantime Alex was calling out a mayday on his radio, hoping that at least one of the other teams were close by to assist, because they were the ones trained for this type of situation, whereas those who now found themselves in the situation were not.

"Mayday…"

Fortunately, the training Liz had received from Maria had bought them some time, however, Alex was not deluded into believing that she was capable of full on defence combat against many opponents, and he doubted very much that either he or Mr. Evans would be any better, because Liz at least had training, they did not.

Alex wondered if his decision to stay home with his computer instead of go out and train with his sister had been such a good idea after all.

"…we need help, we're under attack…"

---

Michael was torn, there was no way the they would make it to the van on time with Max in the state that he was, and they couldn't leave Isabel alone to handle any problem as well as drag Max out of the building, which meant that one of them had to stay with her and the other would have to make for the van.

"I'll go." Offered Maria

"No, it's too dangerous."

Maria gave him a look of disbelief "and what we're doing now isn't?"

Michael remained unsure.

"We're wasting time, I'll see you back at the van."

Maria sprang into a full sprint, speaking into her headset as she ran "Alex, I'm on my way!"

"Doodle."

Isabel was so startled at the sound of Max's voice that she almost let go of him "what?"

Abruptly he stopped his shuffling movement and looked directly at her for the first time "doodle, shmoodle, woodle!" He shouted whilst at the same time shoving her aside.

He didn't wait to see her ungraceful fall to the floor; instead he took off barrelling past Michael.

"Michael stop him, he'll set off the sensors" shouted Isabel as she got up off the floor.

Still confused at the abrupt change of events, Michael took off after Max, fortunately his friend was not moving very fast, in fact, if anything, Max seemed disorientated, bouncing off the walls of the hallway as he ran from side to side.

Up ahead was the sensor and Max was heading straight for it.

I'm too late thought Michael "Max stop!" He shouted in a fit of panic.

To Michael's surprise, Max stopped dead in his tracks, his head hung low and his now long fringe falling over his eyes, seemingly in a trance.

Cautiously Michael approached Max, prepared to tackle him to the ground if he made any motions to move, but Max remained still.

Michael reached out and laid a hand on his friends shoulder, expecting to be shoved aside like Isabel had been with nothing but a 'doodle, schmoodle, woodle' from Max.

Michael was petrified for his friends state of mind, but he couldn't worry about that now because his first priority was keeping Max alive, and if….when they got out of here, he would then worry about whether his friend had gone completely off his rocker, 'cause it sure as hell looked that way.

Max continued to stand quietly as Isabel reached them.

"He seems okay now, just try to get him walking again whilst I de-activate the sensor" said Michael, acutely aware that they had been in the building far too long, leaving behind them a trail of unconscious bodies which were sure to wake up soon and alert the rest of security, that is if the other guards hadn't already heard the commotion.

Meanwhile as they dawdled with crazy-Max, the rest of their friends were battling evil aliens.

--

Cade Foster and Jim Valenti made it to the van within seconds of hearing the SOS call, both men had finished their perimeter search and were on their way back to the van when Alex's emergency call came over their headsets.

Cade could make out four Gua, one was prying open the van door, another climbing through a window it had just smashed and a third and fourth still making their way to the vehicle from the opposite direction.

Raising his gun as he ran towards the van, Cade called out "Gua!"

The four men stopped mid task to turn and look at Cade and the Sheriff.

The one who had pried open the van door spoke first "Foster!" He spat in disgust "You've just made my day…I'll become a planetary hero when I haul you in by your feet whilst you beg for your pitiful little life…just like your wife did."

Cade barely kept his anger in control "actually, you piece of alien scum, I'm going to make this your last day!" Cade squeezed the trigger and watched emotionlessly as the alien burst into dust.

This action caused the two Gua who were still making their way to the van to increase their speed. Meanwhile the remaining Gua seemed to quiver in fear, his dark eyes as wide as saucers looked upon Cade with barely concealed awe and fear.

His awe and fear both due to the fact that he was standing in the presence of a human who had thwarted their efforts on earth time and time again, he had overcome every obstacle they had thrown at them and come back stronger, and if he could do all of that alone, then what would he be able to do with the Royal Four fighting with him? Zaan Hu had no doubt that they would all be destroyed if this alliance were ever allowed to happen.

Knowing this, he shakily reached for his transmitter attached to his belt, before changing his mind and sprinting for the brush that surrounded the clearing they were in.

Cade let him go, his attention drawn to the threat of the two remaining Gua who had now reached the clearing, both pointing an unknown device at the humans gathered in the clearing.

"Why don't you follow your friends lead and leave here, because it's the only way you're getting out alive" threatened Cade.

"Zaan Hu is an embarrassment to our kind, we on the other hand do not fear you Foster" growled one of the Gua "where are the Royals?"

"Right here!"

In unison, both Gua turned to find Maria standing behind them, hands on her hips and eyes blazing in fury. Her leg shot out, catching the first Gua off guard and knocking him to the ground, she then swept her leg low over the ground, tripping the second Gua.

By this time, the first one was on his knees, pointing his transmitter at Maria, a look of satisfaction on his face.

A shot ran out, turning him into a million pieces of dust, Maria glanced up in surprise to find the Sheriff's smoking gun pointed in her direction.

Go Sheriff she applauded silently in her mind, before turning back to the last Gua. Using her elbow she hit the sensitive area between his neck and head, immediately knocking him unconscious.

Liz ran to Maria's side "where are the others? Are they okay?" she demanded, her fear for Max, Michael and Isabel evident of her face.

Maria nodded, "they're fine, they should be here any minute now." Giving Liz a brief smile, Maria then made her way to the van to make sure her brother was okay, he was always getting himself into sticky situations that she would then have to rescue him from.

Like that time he went on a blind date with a girl he'd met on the internet, who turned out to be a guy, dressed like a girl who had a fetish for toe-nail clippings.

Yeah…her brother was most definitely an accident waiting to happen. On the plus side, she had some good blackmail material on him and she couldn't wait until Alex had children so that she could tell them that story…amongst others.

Reaching the van Maria took note that her brother was okay before turning to Cade and the Sheriff "we should get the van started, they'll be here any second now."

The Sheriff nodded, opening the driver's door and climbing in beside Phillip Evans who had a few cuts on his face and arms from the shattered window and his battle to keep the Window Shattering Gua out of the vehicle.

"You okay?" Asked Jim as he took in Phillip's preoccupied state.

Phillip cracked a wry smile "just thinking what I would've done all those years ago when I saw Max and Izzy on the side of the road if I'd have known that to keep them safe I'd have to break into government installations and battle evil aliens…"

The Sheriff's eyebrows rose a notch "in other words, if you had known, would you have taken them home with you?"

Phillip nodded.

"And…" prompted the Sheriff.

"I still would've taken them home, they're my kids Jim and I don't care that they've lived two life times, one of which was as Royalty on another planet, or that I have to fight other aliens who want to kill them, or even that I have to fight the Government because they want to experiment on them. I don't care if I have to die just so that they could live one more minute…because they're worth every sacrifice."

Phillip paused, turning to look out the shattered window at the night sky "I just wish I could've protected them from all this, because apart from being alien Royalty, they're also human kids who don't deserve this and sometimes I feel as if I've failed them as a father."

"Those kids love you Phil, and trust me when I tell you this, neither of them would ever have had any semblance of a normal life, a home, a family if it hadn't been for you and Diane."

"I hope you're right."

"I am."

From the back of the van Cade called to the Sheriff "let's get this baby started, we need to be rolling as soon as those kids get here."

--


	10. Demolition Woman

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Ten – Demolition Woman**

Summary: An unknown person watches as Max is rescued and then takes matters into her own hands  
Disclaimer: See Chapter One

---

"Do you love me because I am beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?"

- Cinderella

Liz stood over the unconscious body of the Gua and stared at the building, every nerve ending in her body alive and tingling…she could feel Max, he was close now.

Her attention was drawn away when she heard the van rumble to life, everyone was obviously inside waiting for her and the three still in the building.

She turned back towards the building, that's when she noticed the object on the ground, lying where the Gua that the Sheriff had shot had once stood.

Liz bent down to look at it closer, it was the same object that they had pointed at Maria, did that mean it was a weapon of some kind? It didn't look like one, but who was to say that alien weapons didn't look like square boxes?

She reached for the object gingerly, grasping it firmly in her right hand she slipped it into her pocket and stood up.

From the corner of her eye she noticed movement and began to turn, her mouth open to shout out a warning to the others, but the Gua was lightening fast and on top of her in a second, holding her prone to the ground his hand over her mouth stifling her cries.

Liz's eyes rolled in the direction of the van, hoping that someone had seen the movement, but knowing that she was out of sight of the occupants at the back of the van because the door was on the opposite side of where she now struggled.

However, she was still in sight of Mr. Evans and the Sheriff who were sitting in the front of the van…neither were looking her direction.

Max!

"I'm curious as to why a couple of humans would be assisting Foster and the Royals?" It whispered in her ear.

"Hmph" she replied.

"Oh, right, sorry, forgot you can't talk right now…maybe later."

--

Michael led Isabel and Max out of the building and into the open compound; a few metres ahead lay the hole in the fence that they had created a half hour earlier.

"We're in the open now, so anything can happen. Make sure he doesn't do his doodle thing 'cause then we might not be able to catch him before something happens" warned Michael.

"It's not like I personally let him go before Michael, he's stronger than me and if he wants to go, he'll make it happen" snapped Isabel.

"He's in a drugged stupor Isabel, he can't be that hard to handle" replied Michael, still not looking at her but at their surroundings to make sure they were unobserved.

"In case you hadn't noticed, he's also slightly crazy…not all that easy to control."

"Whatever, just hold on to him 'cause we're going to have to move fast."

Isabel glared at her friends back as he began his crouched jog, before holding fast to Max's arm and starting after him.

Except Max wouldn't budge, he lifted his head and stared into the distance ahead.

"Max" he whispered.

"Yes, that's right, you're Max and you have to run now okay?"

"Okay" he said before ripping his arm out of Isabel's grip and sprinting into the night.

"Not again" groaned Isabel as she took off after her brother.

"Men!"

--

Michael looked behind him to see if Isabel was following and what he saw made him groan in frustration.

Max was running full tether towards the fence with Isabel a couple of seconds behind but loosing ground fast.

Not wasting a second, Michael sprinted after them before they got themselves into even more trouble.

"I told you not to let him doodle" whispered Michael to himself "but Michael, he's so strong and crazy" he replied to himself in a high falsetto, imitating the earlier conversation with Isabel.

"Women!"

--

Gaiea watched the rescue attempt with interest, it was uncoordinated and clumsy, they'd even allowed one of the Gua to escape. As usual she was going to have to clean up their mess.

She looked at Zaan Hu who she had trapped in a circle of energy.

"How did you find them?" She demanded, her black eyes entrapping him with it's powers.

"We have some of our people undercover as Agents, that's how we found the King and we knew the rest would come for him, it was just a matter of time, so we waited." Replied the petrified Gua.

Gaiea nodded, her gaze returned to the building. There was no doubt that the Agents of the Earth Government and the Agents of the Gua would come after the Royals, especially if the people in the building were allowed to live…and to talk.

The Royals were becoming too human, leaving behind witnesses, something they should never have done.

But if Gaiea thought back to the past, they had always been that way, most probably because Antar was such a peaceful planet. The people had no knowledge of wars and thus, were loathe to kill, even their enemies, which is why they had died.

Gaiea shifted into her natural state, a state which most humans would recognize as a 'grey', although the correct name was 'Mawan', a name given to her species millennia ago meaning 'The Guardians'.

For the task she now had to complete, she could not remain in a human state as her powers were limited and right now, she was going to need all of her powers.

Her black almond shaped eyes returned to the struggling Gua and with her mind she contracted the energy circle around the Gua, turning him into dust as his husk collapsed and his energy returned to his ship.

--

Max's befuddled mind knew it was hopeless – that he wasn't equipped with the powers for attack, but rather for defence, but Liz was in danger, rational thought did not enter into the equation when she was involved and combined with the drugs still in his system there was no way he would take time to sit down and think the situation over.

Liz needed him.

Liz is dead.

Liz was in danger.

His mind kept telling him that he was being irrational, that his girlfriend was long since dead and this was another simulation, but his heart argued that his love was calling out to him in desperation and terror.

Liz's grandmother once told her that she should always follow her heart, the deathbed advise had always lived with him, helping him whenever he needed to make difficult decisions and had never let him down, so he decided to follow the advise once again, hoping that Grandma Claudia would not fail him.

Max slowed his pace by a fraction to climb through the hole in the fence before picking it up again to continue in the direction he could feel Liz.

She was close.

In the distance he could make out the rented van and just past it the struggling figure of Liz and her attacker. No one in the van appeared to notice the struggling figures.

Max shot past the van and tackled the man straddling Liz, both men fell to the ground and rolled, each one struggling for control over the other.

Unfortunately for Max, his reflexes were slowed down drastically from the intravenous drugs and he was no match for the stronger Gua who quickly took the advantage and pinned Max to the ground.

Liz was desperate, she had just gotten Max back and now she was about to loose him again, with no options available, she screamed for help as she reached in her pocket for the object she had found minutes earlier on the ground, hoping and praying that it was some type of weapon.

Pointing the small box at the Gua she pressed the button and closed her eyes.

A bright light shot out and hit the Gua directly in the chest, and then he was gone.

No dust, or explosions, just one minute there and the next minute not there.

She didn't care how or why, only that Max was right in front of her alive and well.

"Max" she whispered.

She pocketed the box and ran towards his side, falling to her knees as she reached him and wrapping her arms around his neck as she sobbed.

All the pain and loneliness and fear she had bottled for three years came pouring out as her arms finally found their way around Max again.

"Liz" came the equally as pained reply as Max squeezed her body towards him tightly, holding on to her fearful that if he let her go he would loose her again.

He didn't care if he had finally gone crazy and was hallucinating the entire episode, it didn't matter anymore, so long as he could be with her even if it was an imaginary Liz, it was better than no Liz, better than the utter desolation he had lived with for the past couple of years.

Max pulled out of Liz's arms and grasped her around the shoulders "Liz, we need to get out of here before they kill you again."

"What? Max no, I never died, it was all a trick. Look at me I'm okay!" Said Liz, speaking softly, trying to calm him.

"No, you were dead, I saw you, and now you're alive I'm not sure why, but it's okay, we'll run away and they won't find you and kill you again."

Max pulled Liz up off the ground and began pulling her away from the clearing.

"It's okay Max, we have a van, it'll take us away from here and we'll be safe." Gently she began to lead the nervous Max towards the van where everyone was now gathered watching the exchange between the two.

Liz looked up at the concerned faces of her friends "we need to get him out of here, I don't think he's feeling very well!"

Phillip Evans cautiously approached the son he hadn't seen in more than three years, a son whom he'd thought to be human the last time he saw him, and so to Phillip this night was like meeting his son for the very first time.

Choking on his greeting, Phillip pulled Max into his arms and cried.

"I'm sorry to do this to you guys, but we really have to get out of here, there is at least one more Gua wondering around and who knows how many Agents running around looking for Max."

Phillip nodded, still holding tightly to his long lost son as they all began to walk towards the van.

Gaiea watched from a distance as the rental van pulled away with the Royals and their accomplices inside before turning back towards the building and her unfinished business.

She would have to do what they could not…destroy all the evidence.

Gaiea raised her elongated hand towards the building and let go of her awesome power turning the entire building into huge fireball.


	11. Dealing

**First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"  
Chapter Ten – Dealing**

Summary: Set nine months after the rescue, Max has to deal with his missing three years

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

---

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that sometimes we wait too long to begin it."

- W.M. Lewis

Isabel sat quietly on her bed as Liz packed the last of her belongings in a cardboard box. Out of the two of them Liz definitely had less personal objects, but it still seemed as if the room was bare without the knickknacks that displayed the uniqueness that was Liz.

Isabel chewed at her lip as she wandered who would become her new dorm mate and whether it would be possible to request a single room so late into the year.

"Nervous?" Asked Isabel, knowing instinctively that the answer would be no.

As expected Liz shook her head, her face aglow with the thought of what tomorrow would bring.

"Not really, mostly just flustered with the suddenness of everything. When I agreed to marry your brother on the day of his graduation, I never expected it to be so soon."

"Yes, well, that's where alien connections come in handy. Most people wouldn't have been able to complete two plus years of high school in nine months, but Max is not a 'people' so for him it was a breeze." Isabel smirked "Well…a breeze because of me and my nifty little mind connection with him…what would my little brother do without me?"

"I like that he's not a 'people', 'cause I'm greedy and just have to have the whole package that is Max Evans" replied Liz, a naughty glint in her eyes.

"Liz! I'm shocked!" Teased Isabel, happy that life was falling into place so perfectly whilst simultaneously repressing the niggling doubt in the back of her mind that told her life was just a little too perfect and something bad was bound to happen sooner or later.

"Seriously though" continued Liz, "there's just so much to do in such a short time, I've still got to move all my things into the new apartment and confirm the time with the priest…phone the florist and caterer…"

"Liz! It'll be okay, there's plenty of helpers hanging around for you to delegate to."

Just then the dorm room door was thrown open and Maria came springing in "hey, hey, hey, I come baring gifts of big strong men to carry all your boxes."

Behind the cheerful alien stood a sullen Michael and a not so excited Alex, obviously neither man had come willingly to assist with the move.

"I don't know what you need me for, I thought we lived in a time of equal rights and that girls could do everything guys could?" Argued Michael.

"Also, and I know it may not seem like it, but I'm not so good with the lifting of heavy objects" added Alex.

Michael gave him a look of disdain before focusing on the girls again "so anyway…have fun."

Michael began to brush past Alex when he was stopped in his tracks by Maria. "Hey! Get back here spaceboy and practice the art of helping people for no other reason than it's nice to do something for others once in awhile!"

Growling in annoyance, Michael snatched up the nearest box and left the room.

Glancing awkwardly at the girls, Alex pointed to another box and said, "so…I'll just take one of these then?"

At Maria's nod, he too picked up a box and left the room.

--------------

Kyle slipped in through the door and shut it behind him, dumping his duffel bag at the door he stepped into the living room expecting to be greeted by the typical bachelor pad of dirty dishes and laundry resting on every available surface.

His mouth opened in astonishment as he took in the clean state of the living room. His eyes swept the expanse of the room as his mind tried to reach a logical explanation.

Dad has a girlfriend was the only excuse his mind could conjure. Why else would he bother to keep the place not only neat, but spotlessly clean.

Kyle came out of his shocked stupor when he heard the door open behind him, turning around he expected to come face to face with his father, instead for the second time in as many minutes his expectations were proven to be wrong. Before him stood not only his father, but also a young girl and guy.

As if frozen in mid movement, all four people stood facing each other in surprise.

That's when Kyle noticed his father was wearing a suit and began to wonder if he had been in a car accident and was now suffering from a head injury and major hallucinations.

"Kyle" laughed Jim nervously "why aren't you at school?" Asked Jim, not daring to take a step into the room.

"Long weekend! Why are you wearing a suit? Who are they?" Demanded Kyle, beginning to become uncomfortable.

Jim stepped into the house, followed by the two young adults "This is Alex and Maria Deluca." Introduced the Sheriff.

Kyle nodded "okay…but why are they in our house?"

Jim cleared his throat; giving his son a sheepish grin "they live here."

"Excuse me…what?"

"Yeah, uh, neat huh?"

"It's not for long, in fact, we'll probably be out next week after Max moves into his new place…" began Alex.

"Max? As in Max Evans?" Interrupted Kyle, feeling more and more like he'd stepped into the twilight zone.

The Sheriff continued to grin at his son "turns out he's not dead after all, just in a coma after the accident."

Kyle looked at his father incredulously. "A coma?"

"It's a, uh, long story…after the accident he was disorientated and wandered away from the vehicle before collapsing a few miles away from the scene, where he was found some hours later and taken to the hospital." Finished Jim, doing his best not to wince at the incredibly bad B Grade movie line.

Let's face it, the explanation sucked. But it was better than 'oh it's okay, we broke him out of the Government Installation before the evil Aliens could'.

"But you searched the hospital" stated Kyle, clearly not believing the story.

"I searched the hospital two hours earlier, long before he was even found by tourists and immediately transferred to Albuquerque, where they're more equipped to handle coma patients. His identity was unknown and he was assumed to be a runaway. No one at the hospital had heard about the missing kid from Roswell, and naturally we had no reason to search hospitals so far away."

"And am I the only person who thinks that there's something wrong with that entire story?" Demanded Kyle in frustration.

When his father didn't reply, Kyle decided to drop the subject of Max Evans "so why are you wearing a suit?"

"I just came from a fitting, I had to have it made because it turns out I don't own a suit…or anything that resembles one anyway." Laughed Jim, still extremely uncomfortable with the whole situation of having to lie to his son.

"I'm still confused as to why you would even need one?"

"Oh! For the wedding tomorrow."

"Oh God, please tell me you're not getting married?" groaned Kyle, not entirely surprised that his father would be getting hitched without his knowledge, after all, his father seemed to have made quite a few changes over the past months without keeping him informed.

"Max and Liz's wedding actually."

Kyle groped for the sofa with his hand as his legs weakened under him.

This was crazier than the thought of his father getting married. For months before Max disappeared, his father had become super-paranoid at the mention of Max Evans, in fact, his fathers intense feelings for the boy rivalled even his own. So why the hell was his father getting suits made in order to attend the wedding of the very man he detested and had warned his own son against?

In addition to all the questions running through his head, Kyle began to wonder why his father, already paranoid over the subject of Max would even begin to believe the outrageous tale about coma's and far off hospitals who didn't even try and find where their John Doe patient had come from.

Max Evans had not only stolen his girlfriend, but it appeared that he was now also taking his father away.

Just what the hell had transpired over the past few months while he had been at school?

"…and then, true to her extremely annoying nature she made me carry all the boxes to the car, with only Alex to help, and I don't know if you've noticed but that boy isn't the most helpful when it comes to carrying heavy objects, not to mention that not a word that comes out of his mouth makes any sense unless you're a fellow star trek junkie…"

Max nodded at the appropriate breaks in sentence to give the illusion he was listening to the grumbling coming from the general direction of his bed where Michael had sprawled himself after entering the room moments earlier.

"What I want to know is why I had to carry YOUR fiancé's junk whilst you sat around and did…what exactly have you been doing whilst I was forced into hard labour?" Questioned Michael, suddenly finding himself even more annoyed with the events of the morning.

"Wedding stuff." Answered Max, clearly pre-occupied with something else.

Michael scrutinised his friend for a few moments before asking "what's up with you? Wedding jitters?"

Max sighed before seating himself at the edge of the bed "my Aunt phoned, she says my mother's not doing too well…she won't be able to fly down for the wedding."

Michael remained silent, instinctively knowing that his friend was looking for a sympathetic ear and not pitying comments.

"The thing is, I expected it after seeing her the last time, in fact, each time I've visited in the past nine months she's gotten steadily worse." Max paused, running his fingers through his hair "Isabel has been so excited, she's made so many plans, taken time off from school so that she can spend it with mom…"

"Your fathers going to be at the wedding though?" Asked Michael, already dreading the answer.

Max shook his head "he's spent so much time away from her the past couple of years whilst looking for me, I don't think he wants to waste another minute apart from her….he doesn't think she's going to last out the year, the cancer is spreading too fast."

Michael sat up "it's not fair."

It was said quietly, without malice or bitterness.

"You've tried healing her?"

Max nodded "If I'd been here when she was first diagnosed…maybe I could've done something…I don't know!"

Max looked into the saddened face of his best friend and asked "what's the purpose of having this power if I can't use it to help the people I love?"

"Max, I know that this may not help, and I'll probably earn a black eye for saying this but…at least you got to tell her. Not many people are given the opportunity to say goodbye, to say 'I love you', and most of all, at least she got to tell you!"

Giving Michael a small smile, Max said "you're smarter than people give you credit for!"

Michael grinned "just don't go around telling people that, they might start looking at me differently!"

Standing up Max turned to face his friend "so, where's this dinner you promised to make for all of us? I'm interested to see if night school is paying off!"

"Dude, once you've tasted my macaroni, you won't want to eat anything else ever again" replied Michael as he too got off the bed.

Dinner that night was a cosy affair, consisting only of the four aliens and the two humans. The six friends and family members sat around the dinning table, sharing good wine and good memories, toasting to their future happiness and to the prosperity of the soon-to-be-married couple.

For a short while they forgot that four of them had a destiny as Royalty on a far away planet, or that Government Agents and Alien Killers were constantly after them.

They forgot that more than three years previously they had lost their innocence and would soon loose a much loved mother.

They forgot about the pain, loneliness and heartbreak and remembered the joy, the new friends and family, they found hope and happiness in each other and each of them knew that whatever the future brought, they would handle it fine, so long as the six of them remained together.

Max watched silently, a smile playing on his lips as Michael carried through the dishes of food from the kitchen and as Isabel teased him on his new found talent.

It would be awhile before the horrors of the past four years would ease from his mind, fortunately, fate has spared him the memories of his torture, all that remained were vague impressions and emotions.

Clearing his mind of thoughts of the past couple of years, Max continued to watch as Maria overcame her shock at the tasteful spread Michael had set out to compliment him, which Michael took as an underhanded remark about his cooking which ended up in good natured bickering, something Max was beginning to get used to when it came to the two of them.

On his right Liz giggled at the antics of her friends as Alex attempted to break up the bickering two aliens.

It's good to be home thought Max and he picked up his fork and began to eat.

THE END

Thanks Guys for all of your reviews, and if you're interested in reading more about this alternative universe, please look out for the sequel called First Wave: "Destiny is what you do with it…"

This story will include characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, so you can find it in the Crossover TV Shows section, or alternatively you can find it at my profile page.


End file.
